


Coming of Age

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Coming of Age, M/M, Mpreg, Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-01-18 13:31:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 28,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12389064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tino Väinämöinen’s life as an omega couldn't get anymore difficult.





	1. First heat

Tino  Väinämöinen’s parents always trusted Berwald, the tall, shy alpha their son had been friends with since day one. They knew that the aloof boy had more than just platonic feelings for their own child, just from the loving glances and the way his face softened when Tino spoke. Long gone were the days where an omega’s parents picked the mate for their child, but that didn’t mean that the Väinämöinen clan didn’t have  _ preferences _ for who their son picked to become his mate. 

Their messy-haired son was oblivious to the other boy’s feelings. 

Berwald was patient, though. Unlike every other alpha out there. 

Alphas were supposed to be dominant, but it was like the boy never got the memo. He never snapped at anyone or raised his voice above a few decibels. 

Berwald was one of the good ones.

*

Berwald taps his fingers in a frantic rhythm, hoping for the familiar voice of one of Tino’s parents. Still, no luck. It went to voicemail, and this isn’t the kind of thing that you could just leave on the answering machine. 

Mama Väinämöinen must be shopping. She probably left her phone at home, too, considering the fact that there was no response there either.

Papa Väinämöinen’s work phone would be the best chance for a response right now. Tino must be in such pain right now…

The phone rings a few times before he heard the familiar man’s voice answer, “Hello? Berwald?”  
Berwald’s face turns red and he bites his nails. “Hallo.”

“Why are you calling me on my work phone?”

Berwald wishes, in that moment, there was an easier way to relay this message. He’s only thirteen, after all. Talking about this kind of stuff wasn’t easy…

“Tino started his heat, Mr. Väinämöinen, and he’s crying really hard and I don’t know what to do.”

Mr. Väinämöinen’s eyes widen, but luckily Berwald could not see it through the phone. That was the most that he ever heard the boy say without stuttering badly. The fastest, as well.

“Tino started his heat?” Mr. Väinämöinen rubs his forehead. 

“Ya.”

His poor child…

“Okay, I’ll be over soon. You guys still are at the school, right? Tell him Dad’s on his way and please stay away from him as much as you can.” 

Berwald nods, “Yeah, we are. He keeps whining a lot…”

“That’s to be expected, Berwald.”

Education about mating was pretty poor if you asked Mr. Väinämöinen. The alphas were only taught what they needed to know about their systems, and the omegas, well… They were taught how to parent. It was supposed to protect them, but it only lead to more problems for everyone else in the end. 

Mr. Väinämöinen tosses on his jacket and rushes down the steps, barely remembering to leave a note for his boss. 

Tino’s cries would not stop. It was driving Berwald crazy that there’s nothing he could do about it, besides talk him through it on the other side of the door. 

“I hate this so much, Berwald…”

Berwald took a slow, deep breath. “Tino, ya have ta go through this.”

Tino sniffles, kicking his feet back and forth while on the toilet. He could see Berwald underneath the stall. Technically, alphas were not allowed in here, but it was after school hours.

“Why though, Berwald?”

Berwald shrugs. “It’s just nature. You’re sapposed ta have the babies, so ya got ta put up with this pain.”

“But that’s not fair! I feel all weird right now. Like I need something… down there. And my tummy hurts, Berwald. Everything  _ hurts _ !” Tino’s whines were driving the poor boy crazy, but he was not going to leave this spot until Mr. Väinämöinen told him to. 

Berwald traces the outline on the bathroom tiles. “Tino, ya are gonna make it through this. Heat’s a thing that you omegas have to soldier through to have babies.”

“But it’s not fair! You alphas don’t have to do this.”

“Well, we have other things ta do.”

The bathroom fell quiet other than for Tino’s sniffling and shifting back and forth. Berwald’s face is warm, and he looks up to see Mr. Väinämöinen in front of him, dressed up for work. Berwald stands up and motions towards the stall.

“Tino, honey,” Mr. Väinämöinen says, softly rapping on the stall door. “Come on. I’m taking you home now. We have everything set up in your room.”

The stall’s door unlocks and a sniffling Tino emerges. Berwald cannot stop himself from wrapping his arms around the boy, locking him into a snuggly hug. Tino returns the hug, mustering a smile. Mr. Väinämöinen frowns at the display, but knew that this was a difficult time for the both of them. Tino’s heat meant that he would be out of school for the next few days, and that things would never be the same between them. No longer could they have innocent sleepovers or hang out with the door closed.

Until their inevitable eloping, of course. 

Unless Tino decides to pick that beta he always establishes crazy ideas with…

No, Mr. Väinämöinen didn’t want him as a son-in-law. 

God, what was he thinking? Tino is going through his first heat, and he’s already thinking of who he will pawn his only child off to. Besides, Berwald does have some crazy family members, and if his son married Berwald,  _ he’d  _ end being around that weird Danish-speaking boy more often. And once a lifetime was enough, thank you very much. 

And when they reached the parking lot, Mr. Väinämöinen stops to glance down at his blonde-haired mess of a son and realizes that he’s just a few moments away from his child starting his own family.

That was one of the saddest things that Papa Väinämöinen ever thought about, and it was something he couldn’t stop. His child was growing up so quickly, and even if they had a few years left before Berwald took Tino to a house his parents bought them and promised to give the boy everything he ever wanted, it would leave the old man with only a wife and an empty house.

Maybe they’ll get a dog or something before all the grandbabies arrived.


	2. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the responses! It means a lot.

It had been three days since Tino started his very first heat. 

Berwald kicks around the fresh snow as he walks down the sidewalk, hands secure in his coat pocket. If only Tino could come out to play today… Snowball fights and hot chocolate sounds amazing today. 

Berwald sighs, and taps on the doorbell.

Mrs. Väinämöinen peeks out the door and bites her lip, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before tugging at the doorknob. 

“Tino’s still in heat, honey, I’m sorry.”

“Mhm, I know,” Berwald takes off his backpack and starts to unzip it. Mrs.  Väinämöinen lifts an eyebrow, and gets handed a bag of sweets.

“I heard that when you go through heat, uh, you crave some sweets…” Berwald’s face turns a bright pink shade, refusing to look the woman in the eye. 

“And since he really loves sweets as it is, I thought…”

Mrs. Väinämöinen’s heart melts, and she leans up against the doorway. Berwald Oxenstierna could be such a confusing character, but his heart truly belonged to Tino. 

“Thank you, Berwald. Tino misses you,” She remarks, taking the bag away from the boy, “I gave him your jacket you left last time you were here and he’s snuggled up with it. Sorry about that.”

Berwald shrugs. “Don’t mind.”

Mrs. Väinämöinen’s smile fades and she shivers. “Berwald, do you want some cocoa?”

It was time they had a chat. 

Soon, they were watching the news with matching mugs in their hands. She took a sip of her peppermint cocoa, watching the boy on the other seat with a tender look in her eye. She could remember the days when he didn’t always have a troubled glare on his face, or when he talked a bit more than he does now. Or when he would pull Tino along in the wagon.

While the news chattered on about some terrible conflict in a country she wouldn’t be able to point at on a world map, she taps the mug with her index finger and sets it down on the table, startling Berwald. 

“Berwald, what do you want to do after school?”

Berwald presses his hand up against his face. “Business stuff.”   
Hm. 

“Oh, so no family for you? That’s...”

Berwald clears his throat, “No, I… I think I want a family too.”

“Well, sometimes with a family, you have to make sacrifices, you know? You have to make sure to spend enough time with them and not spend too much time on work…” 

Berwald’s eyebrows lower. “Furniture. I want ta make furniture.”

Mrs. Väinämöinen smiles kindly. “That’s a nice goal. I’m sure any girl would love a guy who makes furniture.”

Berwald frowns, wondering when a cup of cocoa was an invitation for her to pry into his future. 

“Or boy,” Mrs. Väinämöinen sighs contently.

“What do ya…” Berwald starts, but doesn’t continue. His throat feels like it’s closing in. 

“Berwald, Tino had his first heat. You know what that means?”   
“That... he is going to keep having them?” Berwald cocks his head to the side.

“He’s soon going to be mated. Not this year, or next year. But you won’t be able to bring him sweets anymore during his heat unless you decide to mate him. You realize that, right?”

To be honest, Berwald had not. 

It felt like floating on a cloud when he was around Tino. The small blonde made him forget the constant societal pressure to be the perfect alpha with just flashing a tooth-rotting smile. They could talk about nothing for hours and time would stop to accommodate them.

Berwald’s face blots pink and he stares down at his lap. 

“His mate in the future won’t like you giving him little gifts or hanging out so much with him. They’ll see that as competition.”   
Berwald’s throat starts twisting shut now. 

“Sweetie, I love you and I don’t want to push you to do something you don’t want to do, but think about it, okay? You either marry my son or you will eventually not have any contact with him. It’s simple if you think about it.”

So, just because of their nature, he was either going to have to mate poor little Tino, or cut all ties from him? That sounded… dumb. 

_ Mating.  _ Just the thought of it made butterflies asleep in Berwald’s stomach wake up to dance around. That included taking care of him while he was in heat and eventually getting him pregnant. Of course, that wasn’t all of it, but…

Tino was too precious for that stuff, right? He talked about having a family, but Berwald couldn’t stand to see him in pain long enough to make him suffer through labor. Even hearing him whine while he was in heat was too much. 

Mrs. Väinämöinen reaches over to rub Berwald’s shoulder softly, which makes him leap out of his seat. 

“Honey, you don’t have to decide today,” She says with a cold smile to the tall boy. “If it makes you feel better, my husband waited forever to make me his mate.”

Berwald nods, lowering his head. 

Tino skips down the steps, using his comforter as a cape. He is determined to take a shower so he could get the greasy feeling off of himself. It was bad enough that he was in heat, after all… Though, admittedly, it was becoming more bearable.

He sees Berwald standing in front of his mother and quirks an eyebrow. “Hey, Berwald…”

The taller boy spins around to see his friend with messy hair, exhausted yet still very much bright eyes, and a small smile on his face. Berwald’s eyes were teary and he couldn’t make out a single word to tell him how heartbroken it was that they were growing up. 

Berwald picks up the bag of sweets on the table and hands it over to Tino. Tino eyes it before pulling the bag up to his chest. “Thank you.”

Berwald nods sadly, and hangs his head as he heads out the door, hands tucked neatly in his dark blue coat. 

Tino glances over at his mother, who shrugs and shakes her head. 

_ Berwald could sure act weird sometimes. _

 


	3. Two Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argh, I hate doing time skips in my stories, but... I think this needed one.

Things became tense after that. Quite quickly, their friendship eroded away. Berwald was unable to speak to the poor omega, not being able to think about anything other than that decision Mrs. Väinämöinen presented him. 

Tino found himself sitting with an omega named Lukas and a beta named Eduard. Berwald was forced to migrate to his step-brother’s lunch table. Tino hung out with those two new friends more than Berwald, and soon Berwald found his afternoons to be free all the time. 

It was sad, but it did not surprise the  adults in their life too much. They probably got in a fight, right?

Except there was no fight. There was no communication. All there was was sad glances to each other in the hallways. They started high school without each other, experiencing some shitty situations without each other by their sides. They were strong kids, but sometimes at night, they found themselves crying for the other. 

Especially when Tino was in heat. The poor boy would curl up to the jacket Berwald left him and sob for hours sometimes.

It sucked to admit it, but maybe their friendship just wasn’t strong enough to get past the whole alpha/omega thing. Maybe Berwald was nervous Tino would get the wrong idea, or their parents were nervous that Tino would end up pregnant with a child before he was ready. It was hard to tell.

Berwald decided the second he stepped out the door that it was too much for him to consider Tino a friend. He couldn’t possibly grow up and be his mate, right? Right? That was just crazy. To mate with someone, you have to hate them a whole lot, right? You’re making them have children and suffer through painful labor…

Berwald couldn’t do that to poor, little Tino. It wasn’t fair. 

So he was going to do the easier thing and cut all ties. You couldn’t mate without speaking to someone, right? 

Two years passed without them speaking more than a word or two at a time to each other. Tino had adjusted to his heats, and Berwald had grown taller. Berwald’s father finally got married to Mathias Kohler’s mother, after years of pretending like it was never going to happen. It wasn’t much of a change; Berwald and Mathias knew they were step-siblings already. They didn't have much in common, except they were similar in age; Berwald just being a year younger than Mathias.

*

Berwald sits up the exact second he hears the knob to his bedroom door being turned. 

His step-brother leaps onto the free spot next to him and wraps his arms around the other boy’s neck. “Bro! Guess what!”

Berwald removes the older boy’s arms, deciding that he is not in the mood to be trapped by him. Not that there was  _ ever _ a mood to want that.

“What?” 

Mathias’s face explodes into a huge grin and his eyes crinkle. “We got invited to a party tonight! And there’s a surprise! Our parents are out on a date, so this would be perfect!” 

Berwald rolls his eyes. This has got to be a joke, right? Nobody would ever invite him to a party. It’d be more likely a dead person would get invited to a party than him.

“It’s Lukas’s party, so I had him invite you! Isn’t that great!” Mathias tangles him up in a clingy hug and presses his face up against the other boy’s shoulder. “So you have to come! To meet Lukas!” 

Berwald frowns, gritting his teeth slightly. He didn’t want to go to a party he was barely invited to, but Mathias was going to force him, wasn’t he? Just to meet the poor sap that had the unfortunate luck of being Mathias’s possible mate.

How anyone could live with that fate was a mystery.

“Start getting ready! Now!”

Berwald sluggishly slips off the bed and starts to move to his closet. He picks out a dark blue sweatshirt and slips it on.

“Great, great, great! This is going to be great!” Mathias’s clapping is enough to make Berwald tell him that, no, he was not doing this. 

But just a mere fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a house and could hear music playing pretty loudly from the inside. 

“Wait until you see this!” Mathias opens the door, revealing the chaotic mess happening inside. Alcohol bottles were strung out pretty much everywhere on the ground. A painting is on the ground, just waiting to be appraised. The carpet is bunched up and looks filthy. Mathias smiles proudly at the mess, even though he caused absolutely none of it. 

Berwald stands there awkwardly, hoping for someone from school to come up and save him from this disaster. Instead, he makes eye contact with a small young man getting himself alcohol.

“See, I told you would love this surprise! It’s Tino! Remember him?” 

Berwald growls at his idiotic brother. Why did he have to intervene? Their friendship ended the moment Berwald walked out that door when they were 15, so why was Mathias embarrassing him like this? Surely things have changed... They were 15 now. Teenagers were never consistent with things. Especially friendships and crushes.

Mathias tugs on Berwald’s sweatshirt and drags him over there. “Hey, Tino! I got something for you!” His grin becomes larger the second that the two were both staring at the ground, faces both a bright red shade. 

“Hello, Berwald,” Tino says, faking a smile. He scratches the back of his neck, waiting for Berwald to look up at him. Even if they wouldn’t consider each other friends anymore, he still would hope that the lovable dork would give him the privilege of looking at him. He couldn’t be that hideous, right? 

Berwald’s chin gets lifted up by Mathias and with his spare hand, he pinches the poor kid’s cheek. “Look, he’s so shy!”

Tino holds back his true feelings; that it was cruel to put shy, ol’ Berwald on the spot like this. 

Instead, he does the more polite thing, and simply asks for his old best friend. “Mathias, can you let us be alone for a minute?” Tino cocks his head to the side and grins at the older boy.

Mathias whistles obnoxiously, and turns away from the two. “Sure. Just don’t do anything that would lead to death or pregnancy.” 

Tino eagerly tugs at the sleeve of Berwald’s sweatshirt, dragging him to a quiet area outside. 

The Bondeviks’ swingset is Tino’s target. The boy offers a swing to Berwald with a small smile. 

Berwald sits down and starts to kick his feet back and forth slowly, waiting for Tino to sit on the other one. 

“I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Tino kicks his feet into the dirt, frowning while not making eye contact. “But Berwald, I don’t know what I’ve done.”

Berwald doesn’t even dare to breathe. 

“It’s like after I started my first heat, you decided we couldn’t be friends anymore. And that hurts my feelings. I can’t change the fact that I’m an omega. Just like you can’t help the fact you’re an alpha.” 

Tino’s eyes start to feel hot and wet. He turns his gaze towards the other boy. 

“I’m sorry, for whatever I did,” Tino says under his breath, his voice cracking. 

The silence lasts a decade. 

“Don’t be. Not your fault.” Berwald says quietly, turning his head towards the other boy. 

Tears are streaking down Tino’s face. Berwald has to wipe away a tear or two. 

“I know we can never change the past, but Berwald, I need you,” Tino finds himself saying. 

Tino wants to ask what the hell happened, why he treated him like he was a china doll, why it looks like it physically hurt him to talk to him, or why they couldn’t just go back to the start. But he knew that in two years, not much had changed with him. He was still tall, still blushes at everything, still never talked much, and still was an observer of the world rather than a participant. 

That’s why their friendship worked so well; Tino opened up to people, and Berwald opened up to Tino.

“Berwald, I’ve missed you so much. I miss you helping me keep my balance. I miss your insight on things. I guess… I need you a lot more than you need me, sometimes. You’ve always seemed to do alright without me. And I know you don’t show your feelings like the rest of us do, but that’s how I’ve always taken it,” Tino sighs, “At first, I was mad at you. But then I started being mad at myself for… I don’t know. Being undesirable, I guess. So undesirable you didn’t have the balls to tell me to my face that you didn’t care about our friendship anymore.”

Berwald’s eyes grow wide and he shakes his head vigorously. “That’s not…”

Tino bites his tongue.

“Things just happened, Tino. You dun have ta be made at yourself.”

Tino scowls. “Bullshit, Berwald. Things didn’t just ‘happen’. There was something that I did, or was said, or I went through my heat, and you got cold feet. Look, I don’t even care what it was. If it was the fact that I still have my Moomin bedsheets or--”

Berwald sighs. “Tino, I don’t care if you have Moomin bedsheets.”

“ _ Great! _ Now, what was it? Me being a dirty omega?” Tino sounds hysterical, but Berwald knew better than anyone else when it got this way, there was no stopping him. Those tears were flying down at a more constant pace now. 

“Huh?!” Tino yelps when there’s silence.

Berwald rubs his neck. “ _ Fine.  _ I was scared.”

Tino hiccups, wiping away tears. “Why, though?”

“Because people gat inside my head. Ta mess with me. Telling me that we couldn’t be friends anymore because ya started your heat. Or I’d have ta mate with ya, and I know what happens then. Ya’d be in pain, and I didn’t want ta hurt ya…” Berwald finishes lamely, staring Tino in the eyes. It is painful, knowing that he was the source of those tears. 

“Oh, Berwald,” Tino says quietly, hiccuping again. “I can handle pain like that. You know what I can’t handle, though? My friend cutting all ties with me slowly, acting all strange about us after I started my heat, and then saying about two years later that he didn’t want to see me in pain. The pain I have to go through as an omega is relatively short, contrary to what you learned in your alpha education class. But you dragging it out for that long, that is a  _ real _ pain.”

It grows silent again, except for the wind.    
“They don’t make pills to help when you’re heartbroken, either.” Tino gives an honest smile, and he swears he can see one on Berwald’s face as well. 

“You know, I gave up drinking just so we could talk out here. So you better say that we are fine again or else this will be pointless,” Tino points out, smirking. 

Berwald’s eyebrow raises. “Thought ya weren’t supposed to drink when ya’re an omega.”

Tino snorts, “Well, Berwald, I think I can make decisions for myself.”

Berwald gives it a rest, deciding he didn’t want to fight that battle tonight. 

“You know, Berwald, it is sweet you want to protect me from things like alcohol, or mating. But I don’t need it. I know the world hurts. I know, eventually, one day, I am going to get married to some alpha out there and they’re going to want me to give them children. I know what that entails. I worry about me, okay? You worry about the alpha stuff, and I worry about the omega stuff.”

Tino gets off the swing, and lingers around for a minute, hoping for the taller boy to give him a bear hug. But, as the moments tick by, the chances of receiving one become slimmer.    
“We cool?” Tino asks awkwardly, with his arm stretched out. Berwald processes the information overload in his head, but manages to connect his hand with Tino’s for a handshake. 

“Good.” Tino grins widely, knowing that this was going to take time. “I still have your jacket, by the way. It’s nice to cuddle with. Still smells like you, too.” He winks, strutting away proudly.

Mathias welcomes him back in with a pat on the back and some vodka. Berwald sees it and rolls his eyes. 

_ Typical Mathias. _

Unfortunately, he had to admit that it was a nice thing for a step-brother to do. 


	4. Your friends are my friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Berwald meets Tino's friends. 
> 
> P.S.- I am not an expert on Finnish metal bands.

Berwald hopes that Tino will accept him over at his table, because he was starting to get nervous that he would have to sit next to his step-brother for the rest of his school career.

Berwald gets his lunch tray and walks out into the open space. He sees a chubby hand motioning him over, and he feels his heart flutter.

Tino wanted them to sit together again.

“Eduard, Lukas, this is Berwald,” Tino introduces, tugging on Berwald’s sweatshirt to pull him down.

“Hi, Berwald,” Eduard says cautiously, treading carefully.

Lukas picks at his food and sighs, not even daring to look up.

Berwald felt his body tense up, but Tino leans over and whispers into his ear, “They’ll warm up to you eventually.”

Berwald nods, but he’s not so sure of that. The way he saw it is that these two were here for Tino during a rough time, and Berwald chickened out.

“I brought you guys something,” Tino says, pulling out his lunchbox. He snaps off the container’s lid and reveals a small Prinsesstårta cake.

“I thought that you deserved a little bit of Sweden here,” Tino winks at Berwald, cutting the delicious food into four pieces. “Since everything in your life nowadays is so boringly not.”

It was true. Ever since Berwald’s father got married to Mathias’s mother, they’ve stayed close to home. They still spoke the language to each other, but their yearly visits were no longer.

“Thank you,” Berwald says, scooting over the piece Tino placed on a napkin for him.

“Welcome,” Tino passes over two pieces to his other friends and smiles warmly at everyone enjoying the delicacy. He only hoped that someone would return the favor by getting him some Salmiak later on. Preferably around his heat.

“So Berwald,” Tino starts, poking at his cake, “How was the party? I know we didn’t get to talk much after…”

“Nice,” Berwald says shortly before shoving some of his slice into his mouth. He finishes chewing and swallows, and turns to Lukas. “Thank you, Lukas.”  
“For what?” Lukas snorts.

“For inviting me.”

“I didn’t invite you,” Lukas scoffs.

Berwald and Lukas stare at each other for a few seconds.

Tino chimes in, tugging on the hem of Berwald’s sweatshirt excitedly. “Did Mathias talk you into it?! I always knew you had a soft spot for boisterous alphas!”

Lukas scowls, disgusted at the mere thought of that. Eduard chuckles and gets a nice punch to the elbow from the other boy.

“You know, Mathias and you _would_ be cute together,” Tino hints, sighing happily while resting his chin on his hand. “He seems like a lot of fun! And he’s kind of cute.”

Berwald’s eyebrows lower and he turns his head immediately towards Tino, jaw dropping slightly. Tino finds himself laughing lightly, touching Berwald’s shoulder. “I’m about to start my heat, so don’t hold that against me, Berwald!”

“Yeah, he talks about everyone who isn’t an omega that way when he’s about to start his heat,” Eduard assures Berwald, watching the concerned look on his face soften into a more bearable one. “He has no censor.”

“It’s kind of embarrassing, really,” Tino adds in, giggling, “I can’t keep my mouth shut!”

Lukas rolls his eyes, “Only you would be open to entertaining the idea of mating that stupid alpha.”

Tino’s grin does not fade. “Lukas, you know I would never choose him to be my mate, and he wouldn’t choose me either! I want someone special to me,” His volume fades near the end of his rather short spiel and he turns to Berwald. His smile fades and he stares at Berwald, watching for any facial response he might give off. Instead, Berwald drinks from his water bottle.

“Well, I am not going to make a bad life decision and mate with that idiot. You only get one in life under most circumstances and he would probably choose to mate with a beer can on our wedding night instead of me,” Lukas points out, consistently monotone throughout the sentences but with a noticeable blush on his cheeks now. Berwald snorts out water, coughing away his laughter. He swore he could see a startled look on Lukas’s expressionless face, then it may have warmed up.

Unfortunately, knowing his step-brother, it would be possible.

“Sorry if we’re boring you with this whole alpha talk here, Berwald,” Eduard apologizes, handing over a spare napkin so Berwald could wipe up the water.

“‘T’s fine,” Berwald reassures, mopping up the water and tries to muster a smile for them, failing miserably.

“You’re a sweetheart, Berwald,” Tino reaches up to mess with the boy’s hair, rubbing his hand across the hair until he gets to the nape of the neck. He rests his hand there for a second, scooting closer to the taller boy and grins over at him.

Berwald’s face grows hot, and he sees that the other two at the table are gawking at them.

Berwald is somehow able to detach his arms from him, knowing that if he took it any farther, it would be in private. On Tino’s terms. When he’s not near his heat and would think rationally about who he was planning on mating with.

Besides, their friendship had just started fresh again.  

Tino crosses his arms, pouting slightly. “Nobody wants me here!”

“Not true.”

  
“Nat true.”

  
Eduard and Berwald stare at each other, both frowning.

“What I mean is that someone out there has to like you, Tino. You’re the perfect omega,” Eduard explains, breaking his staring contest with Berwald.

“Yah, you have the curves and the mothering down ta an art form,” Berwald agrees, “Anyone would be lucky to have you.”  
“Yeah, anyone,” Eduard repeats Berwald, “But make sure to pick someone who won’t bail out on you at the first sign of trouble in paradise.”

Lukas was almost ready to cut the tension with a knife, but Tino pipes up just before the butchering.

“Yeah, I’m just going to pick someone who will knock me up a lot,” Tino titters, “I want a lot of babies. I can’t wait to be pregnant! Imagine my belly. Oh, you guys will have to be at my babyshower. I already have the playlist picked out. _Arthemesia, Leningrad Cowboys, Dark the Suns,_ and… I don’t know them all,” Tino confesses, grinning.

Eduard’s daring expression melts into one of pain and Berwald’s turns into one of triumph.

Betas were often infertile-- especially the males ones-- to balance out between the two extremes of alphas and omegas. They were frequently childless and couldn’t form a true biological bond with either alphas and omegas. Often times, when an alpha or an omega get a divorce, they marry an omega afterwards to save face and have someone to talk to. That’s what happened with Mathias’s mother, kind of.

Except Berwald’s dad didn’t really care about saving face. He did want someone to talk to.

“I’m predicting the future, Tino,” Lukas says blandly, trying to capture the bright young boy’s attention,  “I predict a 50% chance of your children having a permanent scowl on their faces. It might be a dominant or a recessive trait, but scientists haven’t revealed their scientific evidence yet.” He points his fork at Berwald, and Tino looks helpless.

“What do you mean?”

The bell rings, jolting them upwards.

“I’ll tell you when you get knocked up,” Lukas teases in his monotone voice.

Tino searches for the answer on Berwald, but Berwald just shrugs.

So much for meeting the friends.


	5. Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, but I wanted to write this <3

Mr. Väinämöinen slices through a sweet pepper and drops the pieces into a dish, humming as he moves around the kitchen to grab spices. 

“Dad!” Tino announces his presence, sitting down his backpack and gesturing for Berwald to follow him. Lukas and Eduard were supposed to join them, but Eduard had to work on a computer after school and Lukas was flat out not interested tonight. The two head into the kitchen.

“Tino,” Mr.  Väinämöinen acknowledges his son with a smile, but his face falls the second he sees the taller alpha behind him. Was that…?

“I invited Berwald over,” Tino explains, grinning. “I want to watch a movie.”

“What movie?” Mr. Väinämöinen asks, hoping that he would not have to give his son the talk tonight. Not the  _ “How babies are made” _ talk, because they already went through that about a year before Tino’s first heat, but the whole  _ “It’s different now that you aren’t kids anymore”  _ talk. When Berwald stopped coming over, they postponed that talk. 

“ _ Pulp Fiction!”  _ Tino answers, grabbing a piece of pepper out of the dish and puts it in his mouth. He looks over at Berwald, who is frozen in that spot. 

Mr. Väinämöinen was not familiar with that movie, but the title didn’t cause him to raise an eyebrow. If it was  _ Titanic,  _ he would have. 

“Just make sure to keep the door open,” Mr. Väinämöinen says, picking up his pepper shaker. Tino stares at him, confused.  _ Poor boy, so oblivious to the world.  _

“Tonight, I am trying to make something new for dinner so I need you two to be my guinea pigs,” He makes up, hoping that he could avoid any awkward tension. He knew that something happened between the two and he didn’t want to ruin their reignited friendship when it just started again.

“Oh, okay dad!” Tino brushes past Berwald, pulling him upstairs.

*

“Oh, shoot! I forgot to go get us drinks. You know where my room is at, right?” Tino asks, releasing his grip on the shy boy’s clothing. 

Berwald nods, heading to a door off to the side. The door still had a cute poster on it of a Moomin with an umbrella. He twists the knob and sees the same small room he remembers from two years ago. His Moomin bedsheets were neatly made this morning, and he had a map of Finland above his bed and a stock photo of a puppy on his dresser. The walls were repainted a light beige color, but that’s all that changed. 

Berwald did not know what to do, so he stood there until Tino came back with two cups of soda. 

Tino hands a cup over to him, and motions him towards the bed. Berwald’s eyes widen and his face becomes almost instantly red. Tino takes a sip before pulling out the remote from underneath his pillow. 

“Eduard always talks about how genius this movie is,” Tino types in the name on Netflix’s search bar, “But I’ve never watched it before.”

Berwald takes a gulp of his drink, listening to his friend go on about movies he’s never watched. If he was being honest, Berwald did not care for movies. He prefers books, but if he had to pick, watching a movie with  _ Tino  _ was better than reading a book anyday.

Not too long into the movie, Tino had a confused expression on his face. 

“What is going on in this movie?” Tino whispers, pressing his elbow gently into Berwald’s side as he lies down on his side. Berwald moves over to the back of the bed, careful not to get into Tino’s way. 

Berwald shrugs, not quite sure what to make of this movie. It’s intriguing, but it is not a movie he thinks you can understand on the first watch. 

“Eduard’s weird,” Tino sighs, pulling a small pillow under his head. 

Berwald finds himself smiling softly, but he holds back the chuckle quite well. 

Soon, Tino’s eyes start to feel heavy. He doesn’t make much of an attempt to fight it, and falls asleep within just a few minutes. Mr. Väinämöinen peeks in and finds himself seeing a very tense Berwald not sure what to do over his friend sleeping. 

Berwald soon takes off his glasses, placing them above Tino’s head. The movie is no longer interesting to him, and watching Tino get some shut eye made him want to copy the small omega. 

He is tense for a few moments, lying there with his eyes open for several minutes. Tino rolls over, facing his friend now without even waking up. Berwald does not want him to wake up and see him staring at him, so he shut his eyes. 

_ He could get used to this. _

Soon, he found himself falling asleep with a dopey grin on his face. 


	6. Birthday

Berwald shut his locker door and immediately spots Tino clutching his books tightly with a huge smile on his face.

“Happy birthday, Berwald,” Tino breathes out, intruding Berwald’s personal bubble without even thinking much about it. Berwald freezes, realizing he’s been awake for at least two hours without realizing that it is June 6th. He had been preoccupied by the thought of summer vacation. 

“I got you a present,” Tino says, finding himself touching the ends of Berwald’s shirt. He is a bit grateful that his heat didn’t start yet, because he would have felt bad that he couldn’t see Berwald on his birthday. Especially his 16th birthday, which is arguably one of the most important ones.

On their 16th birthdays, alphas are legally considered adults now. They can mate, vote, and can move out on their own. Of course, Tino knew that his Berwald was going to do nothing of the sort, but it was still important to be there on his birthday, right? If he was in heat, he’d be in his room sobbing his eyes out in pain. 

“Ya didn’t have ta,” Berwald starts, but Tino tugs on his shirt to get him to move towards his own locker. 

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t get my best friend a gift?” Tino demands, still keeping ahold of Berwald while moving the combination on his locker. 

As soon as the locker door becomes unlocked, Tino yanks on it and pulls out a card and a small box. “Come on, let’s go out to the schoolyard so you can open it.”

Berwald feels like he’s chasing after Tino, with how fast he’s dodging past people to make it outside. He glances back multiple times to make sure Berwald is still following him, daring to smile at him each and every time.

Before long, Berwald snatches the letter and the box from Tino’s grasp. 

He tears into the letter first, but Tino shakes his head. “I don’t want you to read that. Open the box first,” Tino instructs, pressing onto the box. 

Berwald carefully unwraps the red paper from the box and tosses it into the trashcan. Tino dances around him on his tippy-toes, continuing to glance upwards to watch the expression change on his face. 

Berwald lifts off the lid and sees a silver necklace. He pulls up the chain to see a small cross as the charm. 

“Sit down on the bench so I can put it on you,” Tino instructs once again, and Berwald has no choice but to do oblige. 

Tino snaps the necklace together, straightening it out before backing up to review its appearance on his friend. 

“Oh, it looks so good on you!” Tino claps his hands together. “I knew it would! Now open the card!” 

Berwald finishes the job on the card and pulls it out. The card is blue, with a simplistic  _ “Happy Birthday…” _ on the cover. He flips it open, seeing Tino’s boyish handwriting littered all over it.

_ Dear Berwald, _

_ It’s your birthday! It’s one of my favorite birthdays that isn’t mine! _ _   
_ _ I think you’re one of my favorite people in life. You’re so nice and will let me talk about nothing for hours. The other day, you fell asleep in my bed and my parents asked me what I felt about you. _

_ I told them that I think you’re one of my favorite people.  _

_ So I thought I would tell you too.  _

_ Your best friend,  _

_ Tino _

Berwald finds himself with a dorky smile on his face, tracing over the ink before feeling some arms wrap around his neck. 

“Thank ya,” Berwald breathes out, returning the hug. 

*

Berwald tucks in the necklace underneath his shirt, hoping that Mathias doesn’t mention it. He can smell the  _ Lussebullar  _ being baked specifically for him, and he feels his heart flop. His step-mother and father really cared about making this birthday special, right? 

Mr. Oxenstierna acknowledges his son with a nod, inviting him to the table. In front of them is poached salmon, something Berwald had been craving for days now.

“Little brother! Happy birthday! Feels like I haven’t seen you much all day!” Mathias doesn’t bother to use his inside voice.  _ Yeah, I don’t think that’s a bad thing if you ask me.  _

Berwald tries his best not to be cross with Mathias Køhler, but it was like the older boy made it almost physically impossible for a quiet introvert much like Berwald himself to be around. There were very few moments where he would find silence acceptable. It’s like he is constantly inhaling sugar and energy drinks. 

Berwald pokes at his food for a moment, before nodding. His step-mother speaks up for him, “Well, honey, Berwald was probably busy this morning. Right, Berwald?”   
Berwald nods, placing some of the food in his mouth and chewing.

“Yeah, busy with his omega! When are you going to mate, you two?”   
Berwald’s face turns a bright red, and food spills out of his mouth. His father chokes on his own wine, placing the glass down. 

“Berwald…?” His father cations, hoping his son would tell him what was going on before he heard it out of his step-son’s mouth.

“Tino is nat my mate…” Berwald begins, making eye contact with the three others at the table. “Just a friend…”

Mathias smirks, leaning in on his elbows. “But that could change, any day now! Do I have to do everything for you, little brother? I got you guys to make up, and now I’m going to have to get you guys to make out and have children? What is this,  _ The Sims! _ ” Mathias exclaims, and Berwald bites down on his lip to prevent himself spilling out some choice words for his idiotic step-brother. 

“Mathias, stop it,” His own mother warns, glancing down at her plate. She knew Berwald could be a bit of a wallflower, so he was never going to approach an omega in the way alphas should. Strangely, she found that endearing and, well, amazing, about her step-son. The world needed more alphas like him and his father. 

It wasn’t like she hated alphas like Mathias, either, though. She just wished that they would accept their differences and move on. 

“I know the Väinämöinen clan,” She begins to explain to her husband, nudging him so he will unfreeze, “I promise their omega is not mated with Berwald.”  _ Yet.  _ None of the adults were born yesterday; they knew that this story was either going to have a happy ending or a sad one. 

“Who are you mating, soon, Mathias? You always want to talk about your brother’s potential mates but never about yourself. And you’re older than him! You have a house waiting for you!” Mrs. Køhler exclaims, pointing a fork at her son, scolding him with a click of her tongue. “I want to meet any of the potential ones. Give me hope that you’ll be moving out in the next six months so I can turn your room into my painting room.”

Berwald, relieved that the spotlight was off of him, slumps back into his chair, enjoying Mathias trying to bark out answers to the questions his mother placed on him.

“Come on, with me, Berwald,” His father commands, standing up from his seat. Berwald nods, following him to his own room. 

Mr. Oxenstierna shuts the door behind him, glancing down at his son with a stern glare on his face.    
“Who is Tino? Mathias has mentioned him multiple times.”

“My friend,” Berwald states, glancing at the ground for a moment before meeting his eyes with his father’s. 

“Do you care about this TIno?”

“Ya, very much.”

“So why don’t you ask him to be your mate?”

“...” 

Berwald shrugs, finding no words to explain what he had been feeling about the boy ever since he had his first heat. He hated the pressure, hated when people constantly bugged him about the future, and most importantly, hated when people acted like he should push Tino over a table and claim him then and there. That was not possible for either of them to accept or even like.

“Berwald, I understand. I thought about it for years before asking your mother, and… I regret it. I spent so much time caring before doing and it made me lose a lot of years with her. I saw her decline and never did anything about it,” Mr. Oxenstierna recalls, staring up at the ceiling to avoid any emotions pouring into his expression or words. “God forbid that that happen to Tino, but life is short. Too short for us to think about all the negatives.”

“Wait, is this the boy you were friends with as a child?” 

Berwald nods slightly.

“Oh,  _ him.  _ That boy is so oblivious,” Mr. Oxenstierna muses quietly, but Berwald’s death glare almost knocks him off of his feet. 

“Come on Berwald, don’t hate me for saying that. It is very much true. Very sweet omega, though. If you don’t snatch him up, someone else will.” 

Berwald sighs, placing his head into his hands.

“Here,” Mr. Oxenstierna digs into his pockets, pulling out a keychain. “This is the key to your house. Perhaps Tino’s house, too.” 

Berwald’s jaw drops, catching the key in his hands, amazed with the golden key he now held in his hands. This was his future.

“You know where Mathias’s future house is? It’s right up from the hill from that. We know you might not like that now, but it’s important for you to be close to him. Maybe not now, but when you two have children, you’re going to want family around.” 

Berwald nods, blocking out the lecture.

“We got you a bigger house with a bigger plot of land. There’s a pond about an acre from the house, along with a stable. We figured that you would need the bigger, more rustic house and Mathias would get the more modern one closer to town. Show Tino one of these days. If he sees that beautiful house, he might start thinking of himself in that house.” 

Berwald’s eyebrows furrow, and he glances up at his father. 

“Thank ya,” Berwald replies, slipping the key into his backpack.


	7. Careful

Before long, the school year was over and the sweltering heat that marks summer began.

Tino, who had recovered from his heat, decided that today was the day he was going to invite Berwald out somewhere before merging into a larger group consisting of Lukas, Mathias, and Eduard later on in the day. Oh, and Lukas’s little brother. 

Berwald still had the key to his house in his backpack, but did not dare to visit the property yet. It was a bit out of the way, so he wasn’t going to spend his precious time hiking up there without someone else to accompany him. 

Tino tries to balance on the curb in the parking lot, his eyes squinting, “So my dad said that when he met my--” 

Berwald catches Tino in the nick of time, frowning. He did not need his friend breaking anything, or worse. “Careful.”

Tino shakes the arm off of him. “I am, Berwald!” 

Berwald’s eyebrows furrow, and Tino giggles. “Stop, you look so scary when you do that! So anyways, when my dad met my mom, she was working at an ice cream shop. And he kept coming back and ordered ice cream every single day, hoping she would get the hint. That’s so cute. So without pocket money, I might not exist!” 

Berwald considers how much a helmet and a pair of knee pads would cost him before lifting Tino up slightly to place him back on the curb. 

“You’re so strong, Berwald! Thank you!” Tino’s lightly sunburnt cheeks become a bit more red, and he pushes his bangs out of his eyes. “I think you’re physically strong while I’m mentally strong, yeah.”

Berwald shrugs, shaking his head. “No.”

“What?” 

“Ya’re strong both ways, Tino.” Berwald insists, leaving the other boy with a huge smile and holding his hand over his own heart. 

“Thank you,” Tino leaps off the curb, which gives Berwald a miniature heart attack. He knew that the boy was feeling way better now that his heat was done and over with, but Jesus! Can’t he be a bit more cautious? 

“I can’t believe we’re just two years from completing high school, Berwald,” Tino says, walking towards a picnic table. “Soon you’re going to own a furniture store, and I’m going to be married with a puppy!”

Unfortunately, Tino’s family was pretty adamant against having a dog in the house. And by ‘family’, it was mostly his mother against that idea. So getting married to someone who liked dogs was a high priority to him. 

Berwald shoves his hands in his pockets, leaning forwards. “I wanna get married, ta, ya know.”

Tino raises an eyebrow, as if he never considered to entertain the idea that his friends may want to marry, too. “Really? What kind of person do you want to marry?”   
Berwald’s face becomes a bright red, which, despite usually being oblivious to, well, just about  _ everything,  _ Tino notes and decides that it’s time to offer some of his thoughts. 

“I want to marry someone who wants children, duh. And someone who likes dogs, duh. But I also want someone who is nice to me, and can cook some normal food. Oh, and someone who likes cuddles and fires and doesn’t mind heavy metal music,” Tino admits, twiddling away at his fingers nervously, hoping he did not break Berwald.

“I want someone who isn’t scared ta look at me,” Berwald admits with a sad smile. 

Tino snorts. “Well, don’t make scary faces, silly!” 

As if it were that simple. Sometimes, Berwald doesn’t even  _ know _ that he’s making them. 

“But I don’t find your face scary…” Tino says quietly, so quietly Berwald doesn’t even pick up on it. 

“What else?” Tino eggs on, hoping he could get some perspective. Maybe he could give Berwald a good word to Lukas, since they were obviously made for each other, right? 

“I dunno, Tino,” Berwald shrugs, not really putting much thought into it. He knew who he liked, and that was  _ Tino.  _ To consider anyone else just felt  _ dirty.  _

“I want to live in a big house,” Tino flops onto the ground, which makes Berwald remember about that key burning in his backpack. “Don’t you, Berwald?” 

Tino holds out his hand, wanting Berwald to join him. Instead, Berwald sits criss-cross-applesauce on the ground, not yet feeling relaxed enough to lay down on the park’s grass. 

“A big house with a yard, and a cozy living room… I would love that. With a nice alpha who will feed me and cuddle with me. That would be the life.”

Berwald smiles, knowing well that he fit those qualifications to a T. Well, the house qualifications were pending. 

“I got a house,” Berwald reveals, which makes Tino sit up immediately.

“What does it look like, Berwald?”   
“I don’t know.”

“Well, do you know where it is?”

“Ya.”

“I want to see it!”

And suddenly, there were no more plans to meet up with friends. It was time to see Berwald’s future house. 


	8. Sauna

It takes Berwald and Tino around 40 minutes to make it to the hill which the house is situated on. Before they get there, though, Berwald makes sure to point out Mathias’s house.   
“That’s my brother’s house,” Berwald points out, and Tino raises his hand above his eyebrows so he could block out some of the blinding sun. 

“Not too shabby,” Tino whistles, “Maybe I should marry him. Eek, is that a pool? Oh gosh, does he have a sauna? Okay, put in a good word. What does Mathias like again?”

Berwald rolls his eyes. “No.”

“What, Berwald?”

“I am nat lettin’ ya marry my dumb step-brother for his house, Tino.”

Tino pouts, his shoulders slumping. 

“My house ain’t tah far away nah, let’s go,” Berwald says, practically having to drag his friend up the hill to get away from that residence. 

“I think it’s weird that alphas have their parents buy houses for them,” Tino scrunches up his face, trying to picture his parents buying a house for him. That’s why they probably never tried to have another; if they had an alpha it would be too much work for them. Not that they’re particularly lazy people, but compensating an omega’s family would be below them. 

“Ya’re the ones who like ta get pregnant,” Berwald scoffs noncommittally, letting Tino playfully bump into him without retaliation, “It’s weird.”   
“Well, it’s just part of nature. Someone has to do it, so it might as well be us, right? Besides, none of you seem to put up much of a complaint once we get pregnant. Then it’s all sunshine and rainbows for you guys, while we have to do the difficult stuff.”

Berwald doesn’t have much of a reply for that. 

“Oh, Berwald,” Tino breathes out, covering his mouth with his hand as he approaches the house. It was an older structure built from bricks, and slightly hidden by a row of trees. There’s a gravel path leading up to the porch, which is covered off to shield away unwanted creatures. 

“It’s beautiful,” Tino glances up to Berwald with a genuine smile on his face, his eyes sparkling. 

“Mah dad said so, tah,” Berwald shoves his hands in his pockets, stepping at the same pace as Tino. 

“Do you have a key?” 

Berwald shakes his head yes, slipping off his backpack and poking his hand into the back of his book bag. He retrieves the key and takes it up to the door. 

“Oh gosh, Berwald, this is so amazing,” Tino whispers out, finding himself touching Berwald’s arm as he turns the knob. 

They wander into the kitchen first. It looked recently remodeled, which shocked Berwald. How could his parents chip in on that without them knowing? 

“Oh, wow,” Tino runs his hands over the granite counter, turning to see what Berwald is eyeing. Right now, though, Berwald is standing in the corner, watching Tino be in awe of this place. There’s a small, almost naive grin on his face. 

“What?” Tino questions, knocking Berwald out of his trance. 

Berwald shrugs, shaking his head and pointing to the next room. 

They walk into the living room, seeing a grandiose fireplace and next to nothing else. Furniture would have to be purchased or acquired before Berwald and his future mate moved in.

“Oh, Berwald,” Tino squeals, “I can just picture this. A large brown couch, a nice landscape painting above the couch, and a  _ dog! _ ”

“Ya should be an interior designer,” Berwald teases quietly, but fortunately for him, Tino heard it and playfully stuck his tongue out for that comment.

“I wanna see the bedroom,” Tino tugs at Berwald’s hand, and Berwald turns his head to avoid showing off his pink face. 

The large staircase tucked in the corner of the living room squeaks underneath their feet as they rush up the steps. They avoid the other rooms for now, instead choosing to find the master bedroom in the right corner of the house. Berwald opens up the door and Tino scurries in. “Oh, Berwald.”

“Ya’ve been sayin’ that a lot,” Berwald teases once again, but notices what Tino is in awe of. 

There’s a master bathroom with soft lighting that Tino is messing with. There’s two sinks awaiting for the future married couple to occupy and use. There is no shower in the bathroom, but instead a bathtub slightly raised above the floor. 

“I’d love to take a bubble bath in that,” Tino says warmly, feeling a small ping of jealousy for whoever is going to be Berwald’s mate and will be able to take baths in there every single night.

“Ya can, if ya want,” Berwald shrugs, moving out of the room and back into the bedroom. Bare, it didn’t look like much. Just a royal blue carpet and off-white wallpaper. 

Berwald finds himself peering out the window, seeing a tiny, gated in fence. 

“Tino.”

“Yeah?”   
“Come here.”

Tino presses his body up against the other boy’s, making room so he can see what he is supposed to be looking at. 

His jaw drops.

“You have a sauna?!” 


	9. Puppy

“Come on, we have to check it out!” Tino’s hand tugs on Berwald’s own. 

Berwald feels his face and ears rise in temperature, but nevertheless he moves forward. Tino is like a child in a candy store here, and Berwald is not going to tell him no. After all, if Tino is happy, Berwald is happy. It’s a simple equation that even someone as oblivious as the two of them understand.

Before long, they’re back outside. 

“Oh.”

Tino’s face turns into a frown, realizing that the only way to get into the small, enclosed area is through the house.

“I can lift ya,” Berwald offers, and Tino nods.

Tino stands in front of Berwald, bracing himself. The taller boy wraps his arms around the other, picking him up so he can place his foot on the rail. He forces himself over the fence, leaping off with no issue. 

Berwald does this on his own.

Tino approaches the sauna, raising his hand up so he can run his palm over it. 

“I love it,” Tino says, barely audible. He turns to Berwald, raising his voice. “This place is perfect.”

Berwald nods, concealing his happiness with his typical expression.

“This is like a palace,” Tino breathes, his eyes showing that he is hopeful that somehow, one day, he could perhaps have a home as nice as this one. 

“Oh my gosh, what’s that?” The smaller, younger boy points to a hole underneath an area in the fence. Two tiny paws are visible as well, but they seem to be struggling, which is what drew Tino’s attention.

Berwald cautiously approaches the animal, lifting his index finger to his mouth to remind Tino that he needs to be as quiet as possible. Berwald splays his body onto the grass, making uncomfortable eye contact with the animal. He knew that it was wrong to do it, but he had to see what was going on before doing something. 

“Berwald, what is it?” Tino nibbles on his fingernails nervously, trying his hardest to stay quiet. 

“A dog,” Berwald says, sighing. He sees that the dog is trapped on something, but he’s not quite sure what from the angle he is viewing. 

“ _ A dog!?”  _ Tino squeals as quietly as possible. 

“Sh, Tino! The thing is trapped on something. Ah’ll go over there ta help it.” 

With an almost birdlike movement, Berwald makes it over the fence. Tino has taken his spot on the ground, trying to calm the animal as best as he could by digging further underneath the fence. 

Berwald notices that the poor creature has fallen victim to an animal trap. He notices it is a leg-hold trap, which-- thank goodness-- he knows how to undo. 

“Tino, the dog is trapped. Ah’ll help her over here, but I dan know how badly she’s hurt.”

“Oh my gosh, Berwald, I’m gonna cry!”

“Dan’t.”

If there wasn’t a hurt animal between them, Berwald would have smiled slightly when he pictured Tino there with a disgusted look on his face. 

Berwald unbuttons his plaid shirt and tosses it over the animal’s face. 

“Berwald, what are you doing?” 

“Protectin’ myself.”

There’s a moment of silence between the two as they listen to the poor creature struggle.

“Tino, gat ove’ here. I need ya ta hold her down.”

Tino nods, lifting himself up from the ground and analyzing the easiest way to make it over. Deciding that it was nearly impossible, he just went around by running through the house and then coming back out.

Tino made note of Berwald’s muscles, feeling his face become hot, but he’s too focused on the creature in pain to check out his best friend.  

“Hold her down,” Berwald instructs, and Tino nods. 

Berwald presses his fingers on the levers as hard as he can, but accidentally lets go at a point, causing the animal to bite Tino.

“Ouch!” 

“Hang an, Tino!” 

Berwald tries again, this time successfully causing the animal to be let free. Tino cradles the petrified animal, looking down at his bleeding hand. 

“Tino,” Berwald whispers, lifting up his friend’s hand. The small dog watches him carefully, shaking terribly. “We hav’ ta get it checked ‘aught.” 

“No, we don’t, Berwald!” 

Surely the bite wasn’t that deep. 

“What if they take her, Berwald? And hurt her for being aggressive?” Tino asks quietly, tears forming in his eyes. 

“Tino, she cauld have an owner.”

Tino’s bottom lip quivers, already feeling attachment to the tiny creature in his arms. It was an omega thing. If she had a home, it must not have fed her much these past few days. The tangled fur wasn’t enough to hide her visible ribcage, and the dirt she had collected gave her a few new patches of brown on her white coat. 

“It’s just a nibble, see?” Tino lifts his hand up in front of Berwald’s eyes, clearly hurt by the dog but not enough to do anything about it. The bleeding would stop soon enough, and he’d just disinfect the area and wrap a bandage around his hand. 

“Fine.” 

“Berwald, remember when I told you that I’m not fragile? Remember that.” Tino warns, holding the puppy closer to him. 

“I want to keep her forever,” Tino informs Berwald, and suddenly, Berwald had a whole other mission in life.

_ Tino is going to get that puppy. _


	10. Puppy Out of the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my favorite chapter that I've written so far. 
> 
> For reasons.

After putting back on his shirt, Berwald scrolls through his (admittedly short) list of contacts and presses on his home’s number. The long ringing causes his heart to stop, until he hears a familiar voice. He puts it on speaker phone.

“Berwald? Where the hell are you?” Mathias nearly screams into the phone. “You’re not trying to get Tino pregnant, are you?”

Tino raises an eyebrow, and takes the phone in his available hand. Berwald’s face becomes a dark red shade and he can’t find the heart to respond nor take away the phone.

“Why are you always so weird, Mathias?!” Tino snaps, making the poor puppy yelp. “My baby needs help, okay?”   
“Your baby? What? Tino, where the hell are you guys? You haven’t answered your phone and we figured Berwald’s was dead. We couldn’t find you guys, so we told your parents and mine, and they’re really worried. They called the police, too.”

There’s audible footsteps, and Berwald, leaning over the counter with his hands over his forehead, knows that Mathias must be approaching the kitchen. 

“Hey, guys,” Mathias can be heard, albeit the hand he is obvious holding over the phone. “Tino and Berwald are on the phone.”

“Give me the phone!” Ms. Väinämöinen can be heard, and Tino’s lips turn downwards. “Tino! Where are you, baby?”   
“At Berwald’s house,” Tino says, nonchalantly. 

The chairs in the room squeak as they’re being dragged across the floor. “Come on! I’ll drive.”   
“Tino, you guys can’t just wander off like that,” Ms. Väinämöinen scolds, “We thought that you and Berwald were doing adult things, or worse.”   
“Geez, guys! Why do you always have to go to that!” Tino stomps his foot, relinquishing his puppy over to Berwald. “I’m fifteen and you guys have to treat me like this!”   
“Tino Väinämöinen, do not take that tone with me.” Ms. Väinämöinen warns, her own tone making TIno shiver, “Why are you alone at Berwald’s house?” 

“We just ended up here,” Tino shrugs, “But Mom! I found a puppy! And we need to get her checked out. I guess she bit me, but that’s not important--”

“Tino Väinämöinen, what the hell is wrong with you? We are on our way now!” The woman barely manages to shove her feet into her shoes before running out into the car. “We will be right over. Stay right there.”   
“Gosh, she sounded mad, didn’t she?” Tino ribs Berwald, and Berwald glares at him. 

“No shit, Tino.”   
Tino’s face falls, and he stares at the floor. “Everyone’s so mad at me, and I don’t even know what I did.”

“Tino, we’re gonna get inta trable! Don’t cha get that!” 

Tino, not used to Berwald snapping at him, feels his throat swell up. Tears immediately prode at his eyes, and he can’t control it. Berwald was acting so  _ mean  _ now. Berwald was  _ never  _ mean.

“Tino,” Berwald gulps, setting the puppy down onto the counter, wraps his arms around Tino and squeezes him lightly. “I did naught mean ta snap.”

Tino sniffles, feeling much like a child in that moment. Berwald’s warmth could not make up for his hurt feelings, but it did make him feel safe in that moment. Tino returns the hug, pressing his face up against Berwald’s chest. 

They stand there like that for a few minutes as Tino sobs into Berwald’s shirt. If it weren’t for their loud voices, they might not have even noticed their concerned parents bursting into the house. The puppy yaps at them, nearly falling off the counter.

“Tino Väinämöinen!” 

Tino detaches himself from the older boy, not noticing the tears falling down Berwald’s own cheeks when he glances up for a split-second at the other with a sad grin. 

“What the hell were you guys doing here, alone?!” Ms. Väinämöinen demands, not letting the other three parents get a word in.

“I asked Berwald if I could see his house,” Tino whispers, barely audible. 

“What?”   
“I asked Berwald if I could see his house!”   
Ms. Väinämöinen freezes, not able to scold Tino for that. Innocent, naive Tino couldn’t do half of the stuff she was worried about him doing alone with an alpha, right? 

Ms. Oxenstierna steps forward, ready to put in her two (sensible) cents.

“Tino, Berwald. We need to have a talk with you two. Take the puppy and we’ll go talk about this. In private.”

“That puppy is not coming home with us,” Mr. Väinämöinen and Ms. Väinämöinen say in unison. Tino’s shoulders slump. Berwald scoops up the puppy and heads outside, his head hung in shame and anticipating the big blowout he never wanted. 

Tino heads out the door, but turns his head to see the home for one last time.

He wishes that he could stay here for the rest of his life.

*

“Mathias, get out,” His own mother tells him, snatching the Nintendo out of his hands. Her son sits up in protest, but sees the two lovebirds standing in the doorway, awaiting their trial.

“Personally,” Mathias starts with a smirk, “I think we should discuss our options here. I mean, a baby is a big responsibility. And as the alpha’s step-brother, I think I should have an input into this discussion. So maybe, just get--”

“Mathias!” 

Mathias sighs, shifting off of the couch. He receives his Nintendo back.    
“I’ll be listening from upstairs,” Mathias informs a nervous Berwald in a whisper.

“No, you will not,” Ms. Oxenstierna chimes in, fishing out keys from her pocket. “Honey, take him to go get the dog some food and shampoo. We’ll see if there’s anyone looking for a dog tonight.”

Mathias sighs, but accepts the puppy from Berwald with open arms and an uncharacteristically small smile. Tino watches the dog leave him with sad eyes, wishing that he would have the chance to take care of it.

“Come on, Tino, Berwald. Sit on the couch. We’ll talk with you two,” Ms. Oxenstierna motions the two kids over, hoping that the others here could remain calm. Specifically, a certain Väinämöinen. 

“I know I snuck off,” Tino says guiltily, feeling like he is going to vomit. 

“Tino, this isn’t entirely about that, right?”   
His mother nods, and his father squeezes his wife’s hand tightly, nodding as well.

“The thing is, we haven’t been good parents. We didn’t explain to you things that we  _ know  _ you’re not being told about,” Ms. Oxenstierna starts, looking back at her friends for input. The other two nod in return, finding her work satisfactory so far.

“Tino, you are a lovely kid. I care about you deeply. Berwald, you are my son, despite what biology might say. And everyone in this room cares about the two of you. So much it hurts us. So when you two were originally planning on going out with friends, and then take a detour alone, it made us upset. We know you two are great kids, but being alone…”   
“That worries us,” The other woman in the room chimes in, frowning at her son. 

“But why, Mom?”

“Because you’re an omega and Berwald is an alpha,” The woman says simply. “Come on, Tino, didn’t they teach you anything in health?”   
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Tino replies, crossing his arms. 

Ms. Oxenstierna sighs, leaning over the edge of the chair she is in with her hand resting over her forehead. Berwald is in the same, exact position with the same, exact expression on his face. 

“Tino, we love you, but boy, you are  _ oblivious _ ,” Ms. Oxenstierna says under her breath. She sits back up and puts on a smile, tilting her head. “We want you to have a wonderful future, Tino.”

“I will!” Tino cries, leaning forward with tears visible in his eyes.

“Tino, please. If we are not raising our voices at you, please do not do the same to us,” Ms. Oxenstierna begs, not wanting a screaming match in her living room. 

“Please dan’t,” Berwald begs as well, feeling a bit of a headache from the whole situation.

Tino slumps back into the couch, rolling his eyes. Ms. Oxenstierna chooses to ignore it, instead clearing her throat.

“Tino, you’re an omega. You guys follow different rules. It’s just nature,” She begins, poking at the coffee table in front of her, avoiding eye contact with the moody teenager. “And sometimes, us adults have to protect the omegas we care about before they do something…”

  
“Irrational,” Mr. Väinämöinen pipes up for the first time in this conversation.

“Right. Irrational. Tino, we want you to have the best life possible. But if you do anything, uh, dumb now, you’ll regret it, honey.”

  
“What dumb thing do you think I’d do? I skipped a grade in middle school. I think I’m pretty smart,” Tino sneers, glancing over at the candle.

“Teenager things.”

“What teenager things?”

“Things that teenagers do that you guys shouldn’t be doing.”

  
“What should we not be doing?”

  
“Tino.”

  
“What?”

“ _ Tino.” _

Berwald shoots up, turning to his friend. “Jesus Christ, Tino, they think we’re gonna have  _ sex! _ ”   
“Thank you, Berwald, for putting such a delicate subject so delightfully,” Ms. Oxenstierna sighs, pointing her finger out the doorway. “Go, now. It’s clear we’ve gotten through to  _ you. _ ”

Berwald nods, not putting up a fight. His face is red from the very clear hints that his step-mother tried to spell out for the oblivious boy. 

“What?” Tino’s voice lowers, shaking. “I haven’t--”

“We know, Tino,” Ms. Oxenstierna assures him, moving over to the couch. She takes his hands into her own and smiles gently at him. “And we don’t want you to. Deep down, at the heart of it all, Berwald wouldn’t want you to, either. But things are different when you’re alone, honey.”

Tino wants to break free from this woman’s grasp, but something in her eyes is downright hypnotic. 

“It’s a big decision,” Ms. Oxenstierna continues, rubbing her thumb over his hand. “Choosing who to be your mate. But we don’t want you to limit your options by doing something dumb when you were fifteen and then getting pregnant with someone’s baby, alright? Now, I’d love it if you were part of my family, but I want you to make that decision on your own. When you’re an  _ adult.” _

“What do you guys mean, choosing to be part of your family? I don’t--”

The three adults swear they could hear the sound of Berwald bashing his head up against silverware, but they were not sure about it.

“Tino, honey, Berwald loves you.”   
“Yeah, and I love him.”   
Ms. Oxenstierna inhales, closing her eyes. She exhales, opening her eyes back up. “Tino, I don’t mean like  _ that _ . Like, he wants to ask you out to prom, then ask you to be his mate, and then after he settles into his career, he wants you to bear his children. Okay? Okay. I think I made that pretty obvious. I think  _ Berwald _ made that pretty obvious. Right?”   
Her two friends nod from the corner of the room.

“He never told me this,” Tino raises an eyebrow, and Ms. Oxenstierna has to stifle a chuckle.

“Oh honey, he made that very obvious. Now, Berwald isn’t good with words, but he’s good with  _ communication. _ ”

Tino frowns.

“Think about it. Who has offered you their jacket when you were cold? Who blushes at just the sight of you? I mean, Tino, he took you to his house! Come on, my boy is so obviously lovesick for you, sweetie.”   
The pieces start to fall into place in Tino’s mind, but he doesn’t want to admit it.

“And yes, Berwald loves you more than anything else in this world. He will take care of you when he’s ready. But, Tino, if you two don’t wait, it’s going to screw up everything, honey.”

Tino takes away his hand from her grasp, crossing his arms again.

“Alright. I think we’re done here,” Ms. Oxenstierna looks at the two parents, dusting off her skirt before standing up.

“Not so fast,” Ms. Väinämöinen interrupts. “Your son took my son to his house, alone. Now, I respect you and your husband a lot, Ms. Oxenstierna, but I can’t just raise my child in a hippy dippy kind of home like you raise your two alphas. Unfortunately, that stuff just doesn’t work in a home with an omega.”   
“Mom--”

“I forbid your sons from being alone with mine. It’s obvious that both of your sons are covert perverts, and would take advantage of my son’s innocence if we left them alone. At all times, I ask that I know where Tino is.”

Tino’s heart sinks, his bottom lip quivering.

“Alright, thank you. Sorry about the inconvenience.” Ms. Oxenstierna conceals her bubbling anger with a polite smile. Okay, a hippy dippy kind of home? Mathias didn’t like Tino! Mathias liked someone else.

But none of that mattered right now. Instead, she was watching the end of her son’s best friend’s freedom.  


	11. First Kiss

“So nobody has come out to claim her?” Ms. Väinämöinen asks, sipping on her mug of coffee. Her boy is in the other room, playing with the puppy in question.

Ms. Oxenstierna shakes her head. “We think she got caught in the previous owner’s old trap not too far from the house, and managed to crawl upwards. The vet said she was very, very lucky.”

Berwald sits back, letting the dog bounce back and forth between him and Tino while yapping. 

“She’s so cute,” Tino squeals, poking her black nose softly. She had to get a complete shave when she went to the vet’s. She seemed to be a lot happier now that the heavy matted fur was gone and she had some food in her tummy. Tino sprawls out on his back, letting the puppy crawl on his stomach, yapping.

Berwald smiles at the scene.

When the conversation in the other room went to a much more distracting subject (about the two women's’ husbands) Tino sits back up, glancing up at Berwald. The two don’t speak for a few moments, but Tino decides that he has to say  _ something.  _

“So, Berwald,” Tino starts, “You like me?”   
Berwald stares off into space, but nods his head slightly.

“Oh, Berwald,” Tino whispers, wishing so badly he could comfort Berwald without the two adults making a scene of it. 

“I guess I like you too,” Tino admits, touching his own fingers lightly. “But I’ve never thought of it, to be honest. I guess I’m a terrible omega.”   
Berwald’s gaze turns back to Tino, and he shakes his head furiously. 

“Come on, Berwald. Just admit it. I’m a bad omega.”

Berwald’s stern expression returns. “I’m a bad alpha, then.”

Tino didn’t have the heart to tell him that, yes, it wasn’t much of a debate that he was a bad alpha. He didn’t follow the standards society set in place at all, but that was kind of endearing. Still, thinking about it, Berwald was a  _ good  _ person, just not a  _ good  _ alpha. 

“I can’t wait to be back in school,” Tino admits, his eyes gesturing over to the two watchdogs in the kitchen. “You know, they never cared much about us being friends until recently. They let us sleep in the same  _ bed,  _ remember?”

“They were in the house, then, Tino,” Berwald points out, and Tino sighs.

“This is so unfair, Berwald.”

“I know.”   
Tino puts on a determined expression, twisting his innocent smile into a smirk. “Berwald, we could stop this.”

“No, Tino.”

“You don’t know what I was going to--”   
“I haven’t started workin’ yet. We’d have nothin’.”

Drat. Berwald knew Tino too well.

“Fine. No secret wedding, yet,” Tino pouts. 

“I wanna marry ya,” Berwald starts, making sure he cannot be heard within earshot. “But naught a secret weddin’. I wanna let people know.”

“You could just get me pregnant already, then they’d have nothing to worry about,” Tino suggests, cradling the puppy. Berwald’s face turns red as soon as the other boy suggests that. The younger boy presses his foot up against the other’s thigh. 

Berwald pushes Tino’s foot off of him and frowns. “Naught doin’ that.”

“You’re no fun Berwald. Come on, everyone already knows we’re going to have kids together. Why not start early?”

“I wanna go ta college, Tino.”

“Oh, so now you want to provide a stable home for me and the future children with your education?”   
“Always have, Tino.”

Tino pouts once more. 

They hear a chair move in the other room, and Ms. Väinämöinen excuse herself to the bathroom. Tino and Berwald turn their attention back to each other, and the younger boy moves the dog that had perched itself on his lap off of him. Both of their faces turn a bright red, and Berwald realizes he is moving in.

The taller boy touches Tino’s face with his hand, rubbing the soft skin with his thumb. He moves the other hand behind Tino’s head, stroking his soft blonde hair. His other hand lifts Tino’s chin upwards, and they share a long moment of analysis of the other’s features. 

Berwald runs his tongue over his own lips before pressing his closed mouth up against Tino’s slightly opened mouth. He drags his bottom lip upwards to pair up with the smaller boy’s, fluttering his eyes shut before immediately pulling away when he hears the bathroom door creak open.

“Alright, Tino, say goodbye to Berwald. Papa cooked us some nice food,” Ms. Väinämöinen has a strained smile on her face, while Ms. Oxenstierna has a much more genuine one after watching that display of affection between the two youngsters. 

“I’ll miss you,” Ms. Oxenstierna says, her bracelet jingling as she tries to conceal a giggle about the two sly boys in the other room. 

Tino can barely form words after that kiss, so he stiffly offers Berwald a handshake before getting his stuff and exiting out of the door with a pink face. The two Oxenstiernas wave off the Väinämöinens, and then Ms. Oxenstierna nudges Berwald playfully.

“Was that your first kiss, Berwald?”

Berwald nods, crossing his arms. Some could say he had a small grin on his face for the rest of the day. 


	12. Back to School

After weeks of sneaking kisses while a certain overprotective mother went into the other room, the new school year came.

Berwald buttons up his blue polo shirt, pursing his lips in front of the mirror. He runs his hands through his hair, trying to fix it into something more neat. He glances over and sees his puppy still sleeping on his bed.

Tino wanted to name the thing Hanatamago, but Hana for short.

“Breakfast!” Ms. Oxenstierna announces from the bottom of the steps. She makes eye contact with her step-son and gives him a knowing smile. The two boys started to depend on her to give them a few moments of privacy, so now that school is back in session, she could understand why Berwald is up so early. He had to impress the younger boy, and when he had the moment away from Ms. Väinämöinen’s eyes he could do it freely.

Mathias rolls out of bed and opens up his door, wiping his eyes and blinking at Berwald.

“You look different,” Mathias says, inspecting him sleepily. He grabs a pile of clothes off of his dresser and starts to walk across to the bathroom.

“Mm.” Berwald turns away and starts to head down the steps.

“Are you excited for school, Berwald?” Ms. Oxenstierna asks, smoothing her dress before sitting down with a huge smile on her face.

“Mhm.”

“Good. I heard that Tino was excited, too.”

Berwald’s cheeks turn pink, and he digs into his cereal with his spoon.

“You know, Berwald, if you need anything…”

Berwald looks up, raising an eyebrow.

“...I’ll talk to you about it later.”

Sometimes, Berwald could be a little bit clueless. Not as much as Tino, but still, sometimes somebody would have to explain in detail to him what they were hinting at.

A few minutes of silence later, her son bounces down the steps with her husband in reluctant tow.

“Berwald,” Mr. Oxenstierna cocks his head, “What did you do with your hair?”

Mathias slaps Berwald on the back, nearly making the boy spit out the cereal onto the table. “He’s trying to impress his future wife!”  
“Mathias,” Ms. Oxenstierna warns with a slightly threatening expression on her face.

“The other day I saw you guys were kissing,” Mathias informs his brother with a smirk on his face.

“So?” Ms. Oxenstierna interjects, picking up a piece of bacon on her plate and tearing it with her teeth.

“Berwald, you didn’t tell me you two were dating,” Mr. Oxenstierna drags out his chair, not maintaining eye contact with his son.

“We’re naught. Mathias is just bein’ an asshole,” Berwald sighs before taking another bite.

“Hm,” Mr. Oxenstierna mumbles, beginning to eat.

Berwald eats his food as quickly as possible, barely listening in to Mathias’s worthless chattering to keep the kitchen alive and comfortable.

He runs upstairs to get his new backpack, slipping his school schedule into the bag.

The boy heads outside, deciding that today is a good day to use his bike and go in a little bit early. He takes his helmet off the handlebar and puts it on his head, realizing a little bit too late that he is going to mess up his hair.

“Shit,” He whispers under his breath, but after exhaling deeply, he mounts his bike and starts to pedal forward.

*

About ten minutes later, he is putting his bike in the bicycle rack. He sees a familiar car pull out of the parking lot, and he rushes to the front of the school to see Tino digging into his new backpack.

Berwald smiles, strutting past him so he could open the door for him. Tino doesn’t notice until he is about to thank the kind person.

“Berwald,” Tino nearly drops his backpack as he sticks out a hand to tug on Berwald’s shirt to drag him inside. “Come on, I have something to give you.”

The two walk into the auditorium, and whizz past without paying attention to the few chattering people excited-- or terrified-- for the new school year. Tino climbs the bleachers quickly, almost leaving poor Berwald in the dust.

Berwald has to catch his breath when they make it to the exact spot that Tino has picked; a small, secluded area up at the top.

“I missed Hana,” Tino admits, touching his chest. “Oh, and you, too, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Berwald sits next to Tino, and the other boy rests his hand on the taller boy’s knee, not able to control his wild grin.

“I’d ask you to give me a kiss, but I don’t want anyone to see,” Tino admits coyly. “It sucks that my mom flipped out and now we can’t be alone.”  
“Mhm,” Berwald agrees, licking his lips quickly. Damn, he should start carrying chapstick.

Tino leans in quickly, pressing his lips up against Berwald’s freshly-shaved cheek.

“There, I gave you it.”

“Huh?”  
“The thing I needed to give you,” He rests his hand open on Berwald’s knee, inviting him to hold hands. “Remember when you forgot to shave and it tickled?”   
Berwald snickers, remembering how Tino’s mouth turned into a little “o” shape and he nearly yelped.

“Hey, don’t laugh! It was kind of terrifying.”

They sit there for a few minutes in silence, just grinning at each other and holding hands.

“Berwald,” Tino starts, “Do you have your schedule?”  
Berwald nods, unzipping his backpack and handing it over.

Tino reads the list out loud, “Poetry, fairy tales, pre-calculus, pottery, lunch, oh my god.”

“Didn’t sign up for that class,” Berwald teases, leaning over.

“Shh. We have integrated parenting together!”

“Really?”  
“Yeah, yeah. Look,” Tino pulls out his schedule from his pocket and hands it over. “We’re totally going to be partners! I wonder if we’ll get those sacks of flour. I mean, we already have Hanatamago, but a pretend baby would be fun before we have the real ones!”

The bell rings, indicating that Berwald and Tino had to separate until lunch.

“Bye, Berwald,” Tino sighs, shutting his eyes for a second. He leans in and steals another kiss, touching his lips afterwards. “See you at lunch.” He stands up and winks at his friend, leaving Berwald to melt.


	13. New Teacher

Tino pulls Berwald into the classroom, taking him to a seat in the middle of the room. Even with glasses, Berwald could not see much from far away. 

“I’m so excited,” Tino announces softly to Berwald. “We haven’t had many classes together.”

Berwald gives a heartfelt, “Mhm” and opens up his notebook. Even if this is supposed to be a fun class, he needed to pay attention and keep his grades up in here. 

A woman with long hair in a slightly revealing top swings into the room with a smile on her face. “Early birds, are we?” She asks with a wink, pulling up her top as she sits down on the table in front of the two. 

Tino nods eagerly, grinning at the woman. 

“Great. It’s a couple of minutes before the class starts, but I’m nervous already. Is that weird to admit?”

“No,” Tino assures her, shaking his head.

“Well, thank you, uh…” The woman appears to be looking for a name somewhere on the young boy’s stuff, but unfortunately, she couldn’t find one. 

“His name is Tino,” Berwald pipes up, drawing a star on his notebook. The woman finds herself smiling at the fact this obviously quiet child was willing to help her out.

“Tino. I’m Mrs.  Héderváry. Nice to meet you two.”   
The bell rings, which starts the pouring in of students. Mathias takes a seat next to Berwald, which earns him a groan from his beloved step-brother. Lukas takes a seat next to Tino, offering him a piece of gum by sliding it over without saying a word or even looking at the other omega. 

Tino carefully unwraps the piece of gum as Mrs. Héderváry stands up in front of them, retrieving a piece of paper from her desk. 

“Hi, guys! This is Integrated Parenting 120, which is a year-long class designed to help alphas and omegas learn their roles in society as the providers and the nurturers, respectively. This class will help the omegas learn proper parenting techniques, proper birthing techniques, and proper relationship guidance. This class will help alphas learn proper courting, financial skills, and teach them relationship-forming skills. Both will receive proper sexual education, learning about the other’s sex organs and other fun-- and sometimes squishy-- stuff. Alright?” Mrs. Héderváry introduces, and glances around the room. 

“I see a lot of red faces around here. Don’t feel embarrassed, guys. I want to make this an honest and open classroom. Any and all questions will be answered and I will not tolerate anyone being rude or mistreating any of my other students. Alright?”

The classroom nods in sync, staying quiet.

“We are going to do some roleplaying in this class, even on day one. Playing pretend is sometimes one of the best ways to learn.”   
There’s an audible groan from Lukas, and Tino swings his head around, frowning at him. The teacher shoots him a glare, but goes right back to her normal self.

“Anyways, I guess you would like to know more about me,” Mrs. Héderváry smiles while looking at her ring finger. “I’m a married omega. In fact, I’m married to one of your teachers! But we don’t share a last name, so I guess you’ll just have to figure it out. Oh! If any of you can guess, I’ll get you a sticker.”

“Mr. Va--”   
“Shh! Not right now. And nope. Later. Quieter. I love you, but we are not going to play this like a game show. I guarantee it will be hard to guess!” Mrs. Héderváry shakes her head, giggling. “I love your enthusiasm, though!” 

Tino glances over at Berwald’s notebook, seeing a round figure on his paper. 

“Anyways, I don’t have any children, because I want to focus on my career. I went to college for this; I want to watch you grow and become the best alpha or omega you can be. I don’t want to have my own,” Mrs. Héderváry explains, adjusting herself on her perch. “Hm. What else do you want to know?”   
Tino raises his hand. The teacher smiles, and tries to recall his name. Luckily, before things get awkward, the lightbulb flickers on over her head. “Yes, Tino?”   
“Do you have a dog?”

“Not anymore, Tino. Do you?”   
Tino and Berwald exchange glances, and Mathias nearly falls out his chair chuckling loudly.

“Hey! Do we have a problem here? Why are you laughing at Tino, Mr…?” Mrs. Héderváry gives a stern look, glancing back at Tino, who doesn’t seem to look sad despite someone laughing at him. Instead, he seemed rather worried that the woman said the wrong thing.

“Mrs. Héderváry, it’s an inside joke. Anyways, Tino  _ technically  _ has a dog.”   
“Explain it to me later, child,” Mrs. Héderváry flips her paper, despite not reading off of it much. Her face seems to have turned a few shades darker, but she hides it well with her long waves of hair. 

“Alright, I think I’m done. I’ll start this activity, and after we’re done, let’s blow this popsicle stand! Just kidding, stay in your seats for the rest of the period and chat amongst yourselves,” Mrs. Héderváry sets down her papers and counts out all the people in the room. The classroom is (luckily) even, so it makes her job even more easy. 

“This assignment only requires you to write down basic things your partner looks forward to in the future.” Mrs. Héderváry explains quickly, before moving on to more important things.

“Okay, you. Next to Tino. Tino’s groaning friend, and Tino’s quiet friend. You pair up.”   
Tino’s heart sinks and he purses his lips. 

“Tino, and you,” Mrs. Héderváry points to Mathias. “You two will work together  _ after _ you explain that joke to me.” She winks at them, before moving on and pairing up the others. 

“What’s your name?” Mrs. Héderváry asks Mathias. 

“Mathias.”   
“Alright, Mathias. Come on, let’s all go out into the hallway and explain that joke to me.”   
Tino and Mathias exit the room, and a few audible, “ _ OOOHHH’s”  _ can be heard. 

“So what’s up?” Mrs. Héderváry asks, leaning up against the lockers. “What is this inside joke?”   
Tino decides to speak up. “Look, please don’t be mad at Mathias. I promise he wasn’t trying to make fun of me, or anything.”   
Mrs. Héderváry glances back and forth between them, waiting for a complete explanation. 

“He looked at my brother, which made me laugh because they brought a dog home but Tino doesn’t live with us despite practically being mated to my brother. So he has a dog, but only kind of.”

Mrs. Héderváry nods. “Alright, I understand. Go back inside. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing more serious going on. Understand?”   
“Sure, Teach!” Mathias rushes back inside. 

“Tino,” Mrs. Héderváry smiles at the other boy, making him stop in his tracks. He swerves around. “Listen, if you need anything, just talk to me, alright?”

Tino nods, noticing Mr. Edelstein, the music teacher, standing behind her. 

“Are you okay?” Mr. Edelstein asks Mrs. Héderváry, and Tino’s face grows into a wide grin. Then his face straightens out as he is heading back into the room. No, that can’t be…

Mrs. Héderváry is too much fun to be with that stuffy guy, right?   
“Tino! I’m just going to write about how you want to have kids with my brother. Is that okay?” Mathias asks loudly, making Berwald shrink in his chair with a bright red face. Lukas scoffs. Tino, meanwhile, gets a hearty chuckle out of it.    
“Sure. Just tell me what you want and we’ll call it a day.”   
“I want to sample beers for a living. Or sell stuff. I don’t know. I just like beer and people!” 

Tino writes it down, hoping that the teacher would find it acceptable. Mrs. Héderváry seems like a neat teacher, but still…

*

“Berwald!” Tino rushes after his friend in the grass area outside of the school, nearly pouncing on him.    
“Tino, dan’t run!” Berwald scolds before returning the hug. Tino stands up on his toes and inches himself closer to Berwald’s thin lips. 

“I’m sorry, Berwald. But please forgive me, because I love you,” Tino says before pressing his lips up against his friend’s. “I’ll bear all your children if you just say the word.”

“Not saying it.”   
Tino pouts. “Why not?”   
“Timin’.”

Tino places his hand over his stomach, then removes it to take Berwald’s hand to place it on the same spot. “Hm, alright. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be ready. But until then…” The younger boy glances up at his friend, rubbing his large hand with his much smaller one. Berwald is lost for words, but Tino has enough to make up for the two of them. 

“Love me anyways?” 

Berwald nods, his normally stern expression softening into something much more unguarded and loving. 

Tino removes Berwald’s hand, and then stands back up on his toes to share another kiss with the boy. 

“Tino, what the  _ hell  _ are you doing?” Ms. Väinämöinen shouts out of her window, nearly ready to jump out and homeschool her son already. “Get the  _ hell  _ in the car!” 

Tino’s eyes widen, and he turns back to Berwald with a fearful look in his eyes. But he has no choice but to walk to the car, like he was a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. 

Berwald watches him leave, wishing he never had to watch that happen. 

Too bad he didn’t have the resources to rewind time. 


	14. Running Away With Mr. Oxenstierna

When Tino got home, his mother shoves a pregnancy test in his face. Tears stain his face as he tries to explain himself. 

“Mom, I’m not--”   
“I don’t believe you,” She says, opening up the box and pulling out the item. “You went behind my back. Don’t you get that, Tino?” 

“Mom, I’m not doing stuff like that!” Tino tries to scream, but this just makes him cry harder. 

“But you’re making choices that will lead to stuff like that. Don’t you get it, Tino?”

That is their process for several days. Repeating the same conversation over and over again. Pulling Tino out of school and keeping him home for the next two weeks, just because she didn’t trust her son. 

Deep down, that made Tino feel more sad than he’s ever been. His phone got taken away, so he couldn’t keep in contact with Berwald or any of his other friends. He didn’t even have a television anymore.

What’s worse is that his father didn’t even stick up for him. He thought it would be best if he stayed neutral on the subject.

*

Tino found a new way to pass the time, which is by sleeping the day away. 

Some might find it a symptom of depression, but in his mind, it was the only way to survive. His mind wanders in some weird places when he is asleep, but those places were more stimulating for him than what the real world offered him now. 

He swore he could hear a faint sound from the window, but he isn’t going to open his eyes for some bird or bat near the house.

Then he started hearing a familiar voice.

He sits up almost instantly, realizing that he had just slept for more than twelve hours judging by the fact the sky had turned very dark and the street lights were on. 

Berwald is peering into his window with a relieved smile on his face. 

“Berwald!” Tino whispers, immediately trying to pry open the window for him to get a word or two in. He finds it almost impossible to do; only getting about an inch up. He has a determined expression on his face, pulling a book off of his shelf and using it as a lever. 

“Tino, I missed ya,” Berwald smiles, wishing that he could manage to squeeze through the gap so he could wrap his arms around his friend. 

“I missed you so much, Berwald. Oh my gosh, I hate it here. I want to be back in school with you guys. She’s gone off the deep end,” Tino talks a mile a minute, but it’s only because he had so much to update Berwald on-- and also so little, unfortunately.

The two sit there in complete silence for a moment, just enjoying the view of seeing each other. 

“Tino, I want ya to run away with me,” Berwald proposes, sticking his arm underneath the gap so the two could touch and be reunited.

“What?” 

“I want ya to run away with me,” Berwald repeats quickly, not making eye contact.

“But Berwald, I’ll just get in trouble!” Tino hisses, crossing his arms. “I don’t want to get into anymore trouble…”   
“I’ll protect ya,” Berwald promises, giving his friend a goofy grin in his time of bravery. “Ya don’t deserve ta be treated like this.”

Tino nods, not quite on board with the crazy idea. First, he needed a crazy plan laid out.

“Where would we go?” Tino asks quietly, his throat tightening up. 

“Ma parents’ house. I’d sleep on the floor, and ya’d sleep in my bed. My ma and pa don’t mind havin’ ya around. And if ya mom says anything to the police about it, we’ll just say we’re mated. Can’t do anythin’ about that, then.”

Tino nods, finding himself attracted to the idea. Well, and Berwald. But, now that he thinks about it, Berwald has always been attractive. The whole “knight in shining armor” thing he had going on was pretty nice, too. 

“What would I take?” 

“Ya clothes, silly.”

Well. 

“I’ll take care of the other stuff,” Berwald promises, squeezing his friend’s hand. “Got a job the other day.”   
“Doing what?”

“Makin’ furniture after school. Ya mom said I couldn’t do it.”   
“Well, she also accused me of being pregnant. I’ve taken like, twenty tests. My dad isn’t sticking up for me.”

Berwald sighs, wishing that the other kid would just slide his body underneath the window so they could leave this place. It made him depressed to think that Tino was locked up in here for two weeks, without any social interaction. Everyone  _ knew  _ that Tino needed social interaction to not only thrive, but survive. 

Tino nods slightly. “Alright, tomorrow night, come back and I’ll have my stuff packed up, okay?”

Berwald nearly sprains his facial muscles with how much he smiles then. 


	15. Running Away With Mr. Oxenstierna II

Tino hands the pregnancy test over to his mother, sighing deeply. Of course it is negative. He never actually  _ did _ anything that could lead to pregnancy.

Mrs. Väinämöinen inspects it and tosses it away, frowning at her son. “I guess you don’t have to take anymore.” 

_ Well, after tonight, you can’t make me do anything. _

What a relaxing-- yet, at the same time, utterly terrifying-- realization. 

Upstairs, he had started to toss some clothes in the bag. He was going to take one of those bigger plastic bags (from the local department store) and stuff his Moomin comforter in it. Berwald had blankets at his place, he was sure, but nothing could ever hold a candle to his Moomin comforter. 

Every time he glanced over to his father, though, he found himself hit with a pinch of guilt. His father was going to be  _ heartbroken.  _ But, really, he never tried to make anything better. He just let this happen because he wanted to stay neutral. 

His mother, though, he felt nothing towards. She was too overprotective, and maybe leaving would make her realize that he was doing everything well. If he proved himself, maybe his mother would learn to respect him. 

Or maybe she would never trust him again.

Either way, it was decided; Tino was going to live with Berwald. 

At around 2’o clock in the morning, Tino is opening up the window to allow Berwald to take the bags of clothes with him. In just a few passes, everything Tino needs is out the window. He takes one last look at the room before sliding out of the window, meeting his lips with Berwald’s and then climbs off the roof.

It takes about twenty minutes of comfortable, warm silence until they’re at the house. They enter from the front door, being greeted by Hanatamago. 

“Oh!” Tino exclaims, being attacked with a bunch of licks on his hand. “I’ve missed her so much these past few weeks.” He runs his hand through the new curls that were forming on her.

“Missed ya too,” Berwald replies, taking the bags upstairs. Tino sits on the couch, stroking Hanatamago’s back. He smiles slightly, wishing he could go to bed already. 

Berwald comes back down the steps, watching Tino from the living room’s doorway. He doesn’t have the heart to interrupt the affection Tino is showing the little puppy. The soft light from the lamp is illuminating the area quite well, making Berwald want to take a photo of the scene. 

He could only get a mental picture before Tino notices him standing there.

“Berwald,” Tino whispers, so quietly that Berwald could not hear it. 

Berwald approaches his friend. 

Tino twists his hands in his lap, but then finds himself rubbing his stomach. He glances down, and then finds himself with a small smile on his face.

“Thank you.”   
“Welcome.”

“Berwald?”

“What?”   
“I… I… nevermind.” 

There is a million things Tino wants to say to Berwald, but he didn’t have the energy to say it right now. 

“I’m tired,” The boy offers instead, and Berwald nods.

“Come upstairs,” Berwald says, and Tino stands up. The older boy offers his hand, letting Tino take it. 

They wander upstairs into Berwald’s room. 

Berwald’s blankets were on the floor, and Tino’s Moomin blanket is on the bed. 

“Berwald?”

“Yeah?”   
“You don’t…”   
“Huh?”   
“Let’s just share the bed, okay?” Tino offers, smiling lightly at him. “I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”

Berwald shakes his head. “I don’t want anything ta happen.” 

“God, Berwald, you sound like my mother,” Tino says, exasperated. “Nothing’s going to happen until I say it should happen. And even if I said it should happen, you would have to say it should happen, too. Neither of us are saying that, are we?”

Berwald squints, processing what the other boy is saying. It made enough sense for Berwald to pick up the Moomin blanket, letting Tino roll onto the bed and onto the far side. Berwald slips next to him, sighing deeply.    
“Ya’re Ma is gonna be real worried.”

“Good.”   
And the two giggle for a couple of minutes before their eyes close and they slowly drift into sleep, happy and blissful for just a short moment.


	16. Mathias

Mathias presses his palm up against his brother’s door, ready to wake up the boy with his signature move of leaping on his body and cheering him on to get out of bed. It is a Saturday, but he is ready to annoy his brother for the rest of the weekend.

He sees his target has morphed into a lump overnight, but it only takes a few steps for him to realize that there’s another lump hidden underneath the sheets, pressing up against the wall.

“Berwald?” Mathias shakes his brother, his jaw slightly dropped. 

Instead, Tino raises his head and blinks at the teenager, quirking his head to the side before proceeding to tap his friend on the shoulder and whispering softly, “Berwald?”

Berwald’s eyes slowly open as he tugs on the Moomin comforter, not yet wanting to wake up. He grumbles something neither boy can catch before turning over. 

“Berwald, what happened last night?” Mathias demands to know in a panic.

“Nothing! Geez, everyone is so obsessed with mating around here,” Tino says in a huff, crossing his arms with a frown present on his round face. 

“No, like, why the hell are you here and not at home?” Mathias asks, scratching his scalp. “Your mom is going to know you’re here…” 

“Because Berwald told me I could,” Tino states simply.

“Berwald told you...”

“Yes!” Tino states, exhausted by this all.

“People are tryin’ ta sleep, Tino,” Berwald flips over to face Mathias, regretting it as soon as he hears a slurp and a finger being placed inside of his ear. He nearly punches his brother for it but misses by about five inches.

“Berwald! Answer my fucking question!” 

Berwald sits up, realizing that today might not be the day to get more sleep. He grimaces, frowning at his brother and shoots him a dirty look. 

“Brought him here because of family drama,” Berwald explains simply, sighing as he buries himself in the blankets. Tino sighs, inching closer to Berwald and throwing the extra cloth over his plump body, pressing himself up next to his friend. 

“Did you tell Mom and your dad about this?” Mathias asks, wandering back and forth anxiously. 

“No,” Berwald admits, glancing down at the ground. “Just decided that if we got into any trouble I’d just say we mated.”

Mathias bites his thin bottom lip. He had to give it to Berwald; that could just work. Legally, an omega could stay with an alpha they were mated to even if they were just a minor. It protected thousands of couples from being taken away from each other, and it might be a lifesaver in this situation.

“But you guys aren’t mated, are you?” 

Tino rests his head on Berwald’s shoulder, frowning at the other boy. “No.”

“So you’re going to lie?”

Tino lifts his head off of Berwald’s shoulder, crossing his arms once more. “It’s not a lie!” He defends himself, his throat tightening. Lying was such a dirty word. 

“Mathias, ya wouldn’t get it,” Berwald rubs his temples.

“Well, you guys do know that it is possible to tell if you’ve been mated, right? Like, if Tino was mated, he would have no smell to me. But he  _ does.”  _

Berwald and Tino exchange glances, fearful. 

“Get out,” Berwald orders, wanting a moment alone with his friend. Mathias doesn’t listen, but gets escorted out by his brother. The door gets locked behind him.

“Berwald, I don’t want to go back,” Tino pleads, his eyes watery. “I don’t… I don’t want to. Please don’t let me.” 

Berwald gets on his knees, swiping away hairs on Tino’s forehead. “I won’t let ya. But if we want to be successful, we gotta become real mates.”

Tino nods, pushing back the blanket and tugging at the end of his shirt. He is nervous, but this was how everyone’s first time was, right? 

Berwald’s face becomes a bright red shade. “Naught right now, Tino!” 

“But, Berwald! We don’t have time,” Tino tugs back down his shirt, feeling embarrassed beyond belief. 

“Ya mom can’t bring ya back so soon. Legal processes would take a few weeks,” Berwald mentions, trying not to reveal that he knew too much about the procedures. 

“So when are we…?”

Berwald shrugs, picking at his fingernails nervously. “Ya decide.”   
Tino scoffs. Like it’s an omega’s choice on when they mate. Alphas were supposed to initiate it all. 

“What did ya think it would be like?” Berwald asks, after not getting a response to his question.

“Huh?”   
“What do ya want your first time ta be like?” Berwald’s face is a deep pink color now.

Tino shrugs, frowning as he scratches his arm noncommittally. “With you.”

The corners of Berwald’s lips curl upwards slightly, awkwardly. 


	17. Walk

Berwald tosses one of his thinner blankets over Tino, opening up his bedroom door. The other boy blinks, tilting his head.

“Don’t want ya gettin’ cold,” Berwald states simply. 

It could barely be considered morning, because even the sun thought it was a bit too early to come out in full force. The sky is still a dark shade of blue. The parents would not be waking up in several more hours. 

“Gotta take the dog for a walk,” Berwald mumbles, trying to slip on his tennis shoes. “Can ya get me my glasses?” 

Tino nods, turning around to go back into the bedroom. He picks up the glasses and takes them into the other room. 

Tino couldn’t help but picture a day where they were in their own house doing this.

“Thanks,” Berwald says gruffly, pressing his palm up against Tino’s wrist. The touch sends painful chills dancing down the other boy’s spine. 

Before long, they have the puppy leashed up and ready to go. She tugs forward slightly, ready to go chase the birds that are just trying to get their breakfast. 

“She’s so cute,” Tino muses, pressing his body closer to Berwald’s as they walk outside in the chilly environment. “I wish I could be half as cute as her.”

“Ya are,” Berwald responds confidently. “Ya just don’t see it.”

“But Berwald, I have a belly that sticks out and my—“

“ _ Tino, _ ” Berwald warns, fully ready to debate this. Sure, Tino might be a little pudgy, but that wasn’t a  _ bad  _ thing. He had curves, but didn’t all omegas? 

“Do you think it hurts?”

They stop their stroll as soon as Hanatamago decides it’s time to go pee. 

“What?” 

“You know, _ mating _ ,” Tino asks quietly, watching the dog as his face warms up. 

Berwald shrugs. “Probably naught that much; everyone talks about how wonderful it is,” He replies simply, which makes Tino become quiet pretty quickly.    
“But I’m an omega,” Tino replies softly, not having the strength to tilt his head upwards. He heard… varying reports on the subject. Some said the first time was terrible, while others said it was all they were dreaming of. Lukas told him it was rather boring, but that would be better than it  _ hurting _ , right?

“It can hurt for us, ta, ya know,” Berwald replies, letting the dog explore the area as he walks at a snail’s pace. Even though just last night they took a walk on the exact same path, Hanatamago could still be amazed with the new scents around here.

“Then why do you guys always talk about it like it’s the best thing ever?”

Berwald shrugs. “I don’t.”

“Well, that’s because you’ve never had it,” Tino scoffs. He feels an arm slide across his back, creeping upwards so Berwald’s arm could rest on his shoulder. 

“Ya know, I’d never treat ya like that,” Berwald promises, leaning over so he could plant a kiss on Tino’s neglected temple. “Never will talk about ya like that, either.”

They arrive at a small, abandoned lot with a bench that has been withered down by graffiti and God only knows what else. Tino takes a seat and invites Berwald and the dog over. 

Hanatamago leaps onto Tino’s lap and instantly makes herself comfortable so she can go take a nap. 

“Berwald, I…” Tino starts, but stops as he starts to run his fingers through Hanatamago’s growing fur. The dog turns her head to acknowledge the touches, but then goes back to resting again. 

“What?” Berwald asks, his gaze turned to the little dog in Tino’s lap. He wishes he had some treats on him to give her.

“I’m scared, okay?” Tino confesses under his breath. “I’m scared that you’re not going to love me as much as you do now if we do it now.”

Berwald starts to chuckle, and Tino shoots him a hurt look. The taller boy closes his eyes and tilts his head back, ready to listen to more. 

“...I’m scared of all sorts of things, Berwald. I’m scared that you’re going to see me naked, and laugh. Or that you’ll decide to leave me and I’ll be pregnant and alone…” Tino stops, and Berwald’s eyes are open again.

“I’d never leave ya, Tino,” Berwald promises.

“But you did before!” Tino cries out, making the puppy on his lap yelp out in surprise as well. “And… I have a lot to lose.”

“Tino, ya don’t have to do this,” Berwald replies, a bit hurt by the last comment. “Ya don’t have to do any of it. I want ya to be ready. Truth is, I’m not sure if I’m ready, either. We’re gonna do this at ya pace.”

Tino feels a weight lifted off his shoulders, but feels another one ten pounds placed on them immediately afterwards. 

“How am I going to stay with you, then?” 

Berwald’s eyes widen. He… hadn’t thought it through. Then, an idea pops in his head. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and hands it over to Tino.

“Call Eduard.”


	18. Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter for ya today!

Eduard’s tired eyes remove themselves from the computer screen the second he hears his annoying ringtone. The number isn’t saved, but looks familiar enough that he decides to give the caller the benefit of the doubt and picks it up.

“Hello?”   
“Hey, Eduard! How are you?” Tino greets him, leaning his back up against Berwald’s as he twirls his hair between his fingers. “I want to know if I can come over today.”

“You’re…  _ allowed? _ ” Eduard replies, tilting his head to the side. He types in a semicolon to complete a line of code before saving his project. 

“Yes, haha, it’s a funny story, actually! I can tell you when I get there,” Tino offers. 

Eduard nods, “Hm, yes, Tino, you can come over. Just for a little bit, though. This programming is kicking my as--”

“Great! I’ll be over in a minute,” Tino says, standing up. “Okay, I’m hanging up now.”

“Okay…” Eduard starts to type again, twisting his face as he tries to pick out the mess of code in front of him. He absolutely loathed group projects. 

Before long, he could hear a knock on the door. “Coming!” He says, putting on his slippers before walking across the hardwood floors of the apartment. 

He opens up the door with a smile on his face, but when he notices Tino’s larger shadow and an excited puppy behind him, the air is knocked out of his lungs. “Erm, hello.”

“Eduard, do you have suppressants?” Tino asks, inviting himself in. 

“Er, of course. Why?”   
“I need some.”

Eduard raises an eyebrow. “But it could damage your fertility, Tino. You know that.”

Tino huffs, crossing his arms. “You know that’s a bunch of propaganda they use to keep us barefoot and pregnant.”

“You’ve never had a problem with being barefoot and pregnant,” Eduard points out, glancing over at his computer. 

“I don’t need to be barefoot and pregnant right now,” Tino proclaims, shuffling his feet so he can block Eduard’s sight of his precious equipment. “Come on, Eduard. I can’t get suppressants, but you can. Give me some, okay?”

“Why? Are you having sex, Tino?” Eduard asks bluntly, pushing his glasses up with his knuckle. 

“No! Gosh, people need to stop asking that!” Tino exclaims, but lowers his voice when he notices how confused Eduard looks now. “Okay, so I kind of ran away from home, and decided to go to Berwald’s house. So now I need to act like I’ve mated with him so I can stay there. And right now, it’s only a few more hours before they wake up and if I still smell like a fucking gingerbread house, I’m going to be taken away.”

Eduard bites the inside of his cheek. “Why do you have to live with Berwald? I have a perfectly capable apartment you could live in.”

Berwald and Tino exchange concerned glances. If Tino was a bit oblivious, Eduard could be completely  _ clueless _ . 

“Fine. I’ll give you some, I guess. Just pay me back later,” Eduard sighs, going to grab the bottle from the kitchen counter. “You need how many, again?”   
“Hm, about a week’s worth,” Tino shrugs, blinking rapidly as he leans over the kitchen counter. Berwald licks his lips, ready to say something before anything too much weirder happens. “I’ll come back next week, okay?”

Eduard undos the bottle’s cap and takes seven of the blue pills from the bottle, placing them carefully on the counter. Tino takes one, and Eduard nearly smacks it out of his hand. “Tino, what the hell? You’re supposed to take it after eating a full meal. Or  _ else. _ ”

“Right. Can I have some cereal?” Tino requests, placing a hand on his stomach. “Please?”

*

Eduard finds himself staring at Berwald, wishing he had the strength to confront him for corrupting little Tino here. 

Tino scarves down the food within just mere minutes, downing a small swish of orange juice before placing the pill on his tongue. He struggles to swallow the pill, so he just washes it down with the juice. It leaves a chalky taste in his mouth, which makes him glance at Eduard in disgust. 

“What?” Eduard breaks his staring contest with Tino’s shadow. 

“The chalky taste,” Tino replies, swirling the remaining milk around in the bowl.

“Well, don’t let it stay in your mouth for so long,” Eduard replies with a shrug.

Berwald’s phone starts ringing. He picks it up after the second ring. “Hello?” He walks into another room, trying to get some privacy here. Which is kind of hard to do, because Eduard’s apartment is pretty spacious. 

“So, Tino, why are you hanging out with Berwald?” Eduard prys, placing his hands on the table when leaning forward to catch Tino’s gaze. 

“He’s fun,” Tino shrugs, his face turning pink. 

“Fun? He’s scary, too.”

“Yeah, but isn’t everyone scary, when you think about it? I could be a mass murderer. It would be so cool if I were a murderer with a knife in my hand and Finnish heavy metal could be playing in my torture center. Haha,” Tino giggles, and Eduard’s eyes triple in size.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, Eduard.” 

Eduard finds himself strolling away quickly from the counter, mouthing a few swear words before plopping down on his couch. 

“Tino,” Berwald beckons, “Your parents are at our house. We have to go.”   
“Okay,” Tino replies, sighing deeply. “Thank you, Eduard.”

“See ya,” Eduard replies, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Tino speeds up to catch up with Berwald, tugging on his sweatshirt. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Follow my lead, ya hear me?”

*

“Can you smell me?” Tino demands to know, standing up on his tippy toes before Berwald in the garage.

“Faintl’,” Berwald replies, sniffing the air. 

“Damn it! This is never going to work,” Tino hisses, his hands curling up into small, chubby balls. 

Berwald’s face becomes a bright pink. “I have… an idea.” 

“What is it?” Tino asks in a panic. 

“Givin’ ya a hickey,” Berwald replies simply, touching Tino’s neck. It sends shivers down Tino’s spine. Berwald’s fingers find themselves walking slowly up the area before he puts his other hand on the other side of his neck. “Turn it ta the side.”

Tino obliges, sighing deeply.    
“May I?” Berwald asks, polite as could be. It makes Tino chuckle as he nods. 

Berwald leans down and places his face on the area. He first presses his lips up against the neck, parting them out as his teeth brush against the skin.

“This tickles. Kind of, Tino replies, shrugging him off. 

“Tino, ya gotta,” Berwald places his lips back onto the skin, quickly digging his teeth into the area. 

“Ouch! What the hell, Berwald! Those are supposed to feel good!” Tino shrieks and hisses, pushing Berwald off of him. He touches the mark, pouting.    
“Ya’re gonna stay if ya have one,” Berwald explains, “May naught be too visible right now, but…”

Tino crosses his arms, feeling Berwald’s hand rest below his upper torso as they head into the house.

Mrs. Väinämöinen sees the two first when they walk into the kitchen, where all four parents are located. Her eyes widen. “Tino! Don’t do that to me ever again!” She stands up, rushing to the small boy.

“I won’t,” He replies, his monotone voice noticeable by everyone in the room. He lets his fingers trace the mark on his neck before he starts to nervously rub his shoulder. 

“Tino,” His mother’s voice lowers considerably, “What is that?” She places her hand over it, and glances up at Berwald, who has a very red face right now.

“Mom. I’m sorry,” A few tears start to appear in Tino’s eyes, which makes him blink quickly. “Last night, me and Berwald…” 

Mr. Väinämöinen nearly chokes on his coffee. The two Oxenstiernas stop inspecting the newspaper and glance up at the two children. 

“Tino, why would you break my heart this way? Now, you’re no longer my little baby,” Mrs.  Väinämöinen’s voice cracks, and tears start to run down her face as she grabs on to her son tightly. “You grew up too fast! Now, what am I going to do without you? I’m going to  _ die _ !” 

She can’t stop herself from pressing her fists into her son’s soft chest, sobbing. 

Tino can’t stop himself from trying to comfort her, even though  _ she  _ was the one who caused all this. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Tino, we told you…” Mr. Väinämöinen starts, but stops when he realizes something. “Wait. Tino. You have to move out now.”

Mrs. Väinämöinen turns into a blubbering mess at the thought of that, pounding even harder on her son. “I... can’t… believe this. You put  _ him  _ before me!” 

“Berwald,” Mrs. Oxenstierna coughs. “Did you…?”   
“Yes,” Berwald replies gruffly, his face turning an even brighter pink shade. 

“Good.”

“Good? This is  _ good _ ? Your son corrupted my  _ baby  _ for his own sexual desires! And you’re saying it’s good that he thought my baby was not worth blessing children with? Are you fucking kidding me?! You guys are a horrible family! I should have never let my son around your’s. Look what happened!” Mrs. Väinämöinen screeches, nearly toppling over the kitchen table as her face becomes a dark red shade. 

“Hey, my son is a good kid!” Mrs. Oxenstierna defends Berwald, standing up from her seat. 

“Yeah, and what has he ever done, other than fuck up my baby’s life?!” Tino’s mother retorts, crossing her arms and transforming her hands into fists. 

“My son has a job. He’s going to school. He has not done anything that makes me think that he is going in the wrong direction,” Mrs. Oxenstierna replies, trying to keep her calm. 

“But he had sex with my son! My son lost his innocence because of  _ your  _ son!” 

“It takes two to tango,” Mrs. Oxenstierna points out, motioning towards the other woman’s son. 

“Oh, so you think  _ my  _ son suggested that?”   
“I don’t know! But you need to stop blaming my son for everything that goes wrong with  _ your _ life!”

Berwald and Tino huddle up together in horror, quickly exchanging glances with the other two men in the room. 

“Okay, you know what? Fine,” Mrs. Väinämöinen throws her hands up, “But I want your son to leave me and my son alone for the rest of my life, when I walk out that door with my  _ innocent  _ son.”

“Mom?” Tino pipes up. Everyone’s gazes turn towards the small teenager. 

“I… don’t want to go,” Tino confesses. 

Mrs. Väinämöinen’s eyebrows lower. “What?” 

“I like being with him,” Tino says quietly. 

“You don’t know what you’re saying, honey. You just slept with a  _ whore _ ,” Mrs. Väinämöinen snorts, whisking away his opinion quickly. 

“Excuse me?” Mrs. Oxenstierna interrupts, stepping closer to the other woman. “Come on, my son isn’t a whore. He  _ waited  _ for your son, waiting for him to catch on. He hasn’t given up on your son, and I don’t think you should either.”   
“Your son is  _ flaky.  _ I ask him to think about the future once, and then suddenly, he isn’t in my son’s life anymore. What do you think is going to happen when your son knocks up my son? He’s going to stay?”

“I think he would make a better attempt than you have in trying to understand your own kid,” Mrs. Oxenstierna raises an eyebrow, folding her arms. “Maybe the reason our sons had sex with each other is that you put too much pressure on him.”

“Oh, you know what?  _ Fuck  _ you,” Mrs. Väinämöinen raises her voice, spitting at her. “ _ Fuck _ you, and  _ fuck _ your bastard son. I can’t believe you tote around that you have two sons, when only Mathias is your’s--”

Mrs. Oxenstierna finds herself bending over the table, reaching quickly so she could hit the other woman with her palm as hard as she could. Her husband stands up, grabbing her away from the scene. 

“Fuck you, too! I’m not going to take it out on your son, because I have a little bit more tact than that!” Mrs. Oxenstierna spits out as she is being dragged away by her husband. Tino feels his body shaking as he presses his body into his friend’s. 

Berwald finds himself nudging his head on the other boy’s, sighing deeply. He notices his friend’s mother staring at them with venom in her eyes, so he whispers into the boy’s ear, “Come on, let’s go somewhere.”

The boy nods, letting his friend guide them into another room. They find themselves in the living room, on the couch in the corner. 

“I’m so sorry, Berwald,” Tino presses his knuckles up to his mouth with tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry…”

“Nothing ta be sorry about, Tino. Naught yar fault,” Berwald presses a kiss up against his friend’s head, ruffling his hair softly. “More like my fault.”

“Will things ever…” Tino stops, seeing his mother and father talking in the corner, shooting glances at him. 

“Hang on,” Berwald stands up, approaching the two parents. Tino doesn’t waste a second trying to follow him. “Ya know what? Sorry.”

“For what? Clearly nobody in this house sees what a mistake you can be,” Mrs. Väinämöinen retorts. 

“Mom!” Tino steps in front of Berwald, growling. “ _ This  _ is why I had sex with him!” He points to Berwald, tears running down his face. “ _ You  _ made this happen.  _ You _ made me take pregnancy tests for two whole weeks!  _ You _ were  _ too _ protective!”

The two Väinämöinen omegas glare at each other with tears in their eyes, with both of their alphas tugging on their arms. 

“Tino, I think you and your mother need to calm down. We are going home now,” Mr. Väinämöinen says, trying to cut the tension. 

“I’m not leaving,” Tino announces, not breaking eye contact with his own mother. “She has made my home uninhabitable.”

“You know what? _ Fine.  _ Stay here. Just know that when you’re five months pregnant and he gives up on you, you’re not welcome back,” Mrs. Väinämöinen smirks with tears still filling her eyes. 

“Alright!” Tino waves, smirking back as he picks up the puppy dancing around on the floor for attention. “Dad, I love you.”

“Love you too, Tino,” His father sighs, grabbing his wife’s hand tightly. “And I know you love your mother, too.”

“Mhm,” Tino replies before plopping his body down on the couch and releasing his grip off of Hanatamago. “But I love Berwald more. Isn’t that right, Berwald? I mean, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have given me a hicke--”

Berwald places his hand over Tino’s mouth, his face a bright pink shade now. 

The two watch the  Väinämöinen parents walk out the door, before  Tino nearly tackles Berwald with all of his might. “I want to take a nap, Berwald.”

“Ya’re insane,” Berwald replies, running his hand over Tino’s back. 

“Mhm, but get used to it.” Tino grins, tears still falling down his cheeks. Berwald uses his spare hand to dab away the imperfections on his friend’s face. “That  _ exhausted _ me.”

“It exhausted me, too, Tino.” Mrs. Oxenstierna emerges out of the other room, which makes the two sit back in a much more formal position. “I’m so sorry that I did that to your mother.”

“It’s fine,” Tino replies entirely too quickly. 

“Alright,” Mrs. Oxenstierna raises an eyebrow, straightening out her skirt before sitting down. “We need to have a chat. Now that you two are mated, you  _ have _ to live together. But we’re trying to figure this out. Berwald, we don’t think you’re ready to move into that house yet. But, contrary to Tino’s mother’s belief, we do have rules under this house.”

“Right,” Tino replies, merely to let them know he is listening. 

“So, Tino, we’re going to make you share a bedroom with Mathias. During your heats, though, we’ll move you to Berwald’s room and he can sleep downstairs. Right?” 

“Okay,” Tino agrees.

“We don’t want anything happening in this house,” Mr. Oxenstierna adds in, “So anything you two need to prevent pregnancy, we’ll give you.”

“We already supply Mathias, if it makes you two feel less embarrassed,” Mrs. Oxenstierna crosses her legs, perching her head up on her hand as she leans her head over. “I don’t want my son knocking up any poor omega. And, Berwald, even though, you’re much more… mature than Mathias could dream of being, if you feel embarrassed about it, you’re too young to be doing it. Okay?” 

Berwald nods, raising his arm upwards so he could rest it across the top of the couch. 

“School is a top priority, not what is going on between you two,” Mrs. Oxenstierna adds, picking up the puppy from the floor and cradling her in her arms like a baby. “If either of your grades suffer, I have no choice but to send you back, Tino.”

Both of the young boys nod simultaneously. 

“Great!  _ Mathias! _ ” Mrs. Oxenstierna calls, waiting a few seconds before her rambunctious son bounces down the steps. “Honey, you’re getting a roommate.”   
“Great! I’ve always wanted to share a room with my brother!”

“Hm, actually, that is an even better idea. Berwald, Mathias, Tino’s getting his own room,” Mrs. Oxenstierna smiles at them. 

Berwald’s eyes widen in horror and he sits up. “Why?”

“It’d be easier,” Mr. Oxenstierna pipes in, picking at his fingernails. 

Mrs. Oxenstierna nods, grinning as she glances up at her husband. “Took the words right out of my mouth, honey. Besides,” She glances back at the two boys, “You’d barely see each other. You both have jobs now. It’d be nice for you two to get closer before Tino and Berwald move to that house, and you and whatever poor omega or beta you end up trying to impregnate before wedlock in a one night’s stand move into the other one. Okay? Tino, I’m sure we have some stuff to give you so you don’t have to go back to your mother’s.”   
Tino almost adds in that he has things here already, but he didn’t want anyone to raise an eyebrow at that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, I feel like Berwald gets the short end of the stick just as often as Tino does.


	19. IKEA

Berwald scoots the last of his things into his new shared bedroom, sighing deeply. He only hopes that Tino enjoys his room, alone. Without Mathias. 

“Aren’t ya happy about being roommates?!” Mathias slaps his brother’s back, making the other boy leap up in the air and spin around to punch him in the stomach. 

“Boys!” Mrs. Oxenstierna interrupts, walking out with a pair of sunglasses in her hand. “Berwald, you’re going to take us for a drive.” 

“I call shotgun!” Mathias shouts, which makes Berwald roll his eyes. Mrs. Oxenstierna gives the other boy a sympathetic glance, smiling softly. “You don’t even know where we’re going, Mathias. Hush. And I’m riding shotgun to help Berwald.”

“Where are we going?” Mathias asks, curiosity overcoming him. 

“It’s a surprise. We have to take Tino, though.” 

Tino emerges from his new room, snuggling up inside of his sweatshirt. Berwald eyes his freshly disheveled hair, fighting the urge to straighten it out for him. 

“We’re going to—“

“Shh, Tino!” Mrs. Oxenstierna rushes over to place her hand over the boy’s mouth. “It’s a surprise.”

“I hope it’s a bar,” Mathias sighs, raising an eyebrow at his mother before crossing his arms. 

“Yes, that’s exactly what Berwald needs. Me drunk off my ass, trying to teach him how to parallel park. Great idea there, Mathias.” Mrs. Oxenstierna laughs the suggestion off. “Besides, we’re going to a place so magical you won’t need to drink.” The woman winks and motions them to follow her downstairs.

Within minutes, all four of them are loaded into the car. 

“First, we’re going to need to stop at Asda,” Mrs. Oxenstierna announces, buckling herself up. “We need to pick up something for Tino.”

Berwald nods, pulling out of the driveway quickly. 

*

In about fifteen minutes, the boy pulls into an empty parking spot and unbuckles himself. He stretches as soon as he gets out of the car, sighing deeply. Tino joins him, walking closely beside him even when the four of them get into the store. 

“Come on,” Mrs. Oxenstierna leads the way back to the electronics area. 

Tino watches Berwald’s hand intently, wishing he could hold onto it as they rush along. 

In just a couple of minutes, they arrive at the section for cell phones. Mrs. Oxenstierna carefully inspects each selection, reading carefully about them. She finds one, then points to it. “Do you like this one, Tino?”

Tino feels the spotlight thrust on him, blushing slightly. “Yeah.”

“Alright.” 

Mrs. Oxenstierna finds an employee and points to the section, leading them to the phone. “We’d like this one.”

The employee smiles, and undoes the item for them, taking it to checkout. 

Within just moments, Mrs. Oxenstierna transfers over some cash in exchange for the phone. She hands over the phone to Tino. 

“Look! Now you can send saucy messages to Berwal--” Mathias says a bit too loudly, which makes his mother elbow him in the chest.    
“Mathias, I don’t know what is wrong with you, my child.” Mrs. Oxenstierna turns around to Tino. “Thought ya needed it. We can add you to the family group chat now. Ignore all the emojis Mathias sends. I dropped him on the head one too many times, and I’m sorry you have to deal with the aftereffects.”

Tino finds himself grinning at that, stifling a giggle though. The four of them exit the store as Tino eyes the product. This was entirely too nice of the Oxenstiernas; she could have picked out a cheaper one…

They find the car within just a few moments and within minutes, they’re back on the road again. Mrs. Oxenstierna barks directions, and Berwald can’t help but think that this route seems a little familiar to him. 

It’s only when Berwald is pulling into an IKEA parking lot that he starts to have a huge smile on his face. 

Berwald couldn’t really pinpoint a reason he liked IKEA so much. Maybe it is because his dream job was assembling furniture in a small, secluded area where people could marvel his builds. Or perhaps it is the feeling of hope and magic when he steps into one of their stores. Or maybe it is because of the fact their stores always seemed to be clean. 

“We’re getting a bed frame for Tino. Berwald, don’t wander off,” Mrs. Oxenstierna instructs, winking at the boy. Mathias snickers, which makes the pleasant moment turn sour in Berwald’s mind. 

“Hm,” Mrs. Oxenstierna inspects the frame. She is not particularly drawn to the cherry wood, especially since it would be hard to match Tino’s room with that shade. “If they had this in white, it would be perfect. Don’t you think, Berwald?”   
Berwald nods, finding himself touching the wood with his hand. 

“What about this one?” Mathias points to a white bed frame. 

Mrs. Oxenstierna closely inspects it, smiling softly. “Oh, Tino, do you like this one?”   
Tino shakes his head yes. Really, it’s not like he could afford to be picky. If it weren’t for them and the fact that some male betas still had heats, he’d still be locked up in his old room. 

“Alright. Berwald?”

Berwald turns around as soon as he hears his name, not realizing he wandered a bit away from them. He quickly heads back and greets them with his naturally stoic look.

“Get this one,” Mrs. Oxenstierna pulls out a box, letting her step-son lift it up. “Your dad got a mattress for it so we don’t have to worry.”

*

Berwald finds himself assembling the furniture within about an hour of getting back. Tino charges his new phone, taking a moment to admire the man placing together parts of the frame. If only he would be sharing that bed with him… 

“Hey, Berwald?” Tino pipes up, but softly so nobody outside the door could hear him.

Berwald mumbles an acknowledgement, letting the boy know he could proceed with his question. 

Tino nervously smiles, trying to find the words. 

“Thanks,” Tino replies, trying not to make eye contact. 

Berwald continues working on the bed frame. He watches Tino from the corner of his eye, wishing that Tino’s wonderful voice would fill the air to comfort him. Without it, it feels uncomfortable to him.

It doesn’t take much longer before Berwald has the frame set up. 

“Geez, Ber, you got that done so quickly,” Tino breathes out, scooching closer to the other boy. Berwald stops his admiration of his creation to turn his attention to Tino, raising his eyebrow. Tino positions himself between the other boy and the frame, tilting his head sideways. 

“You’re so good at this stuff. Thank you,” Tino raises his arms up to wrap himself around Berwald. He presses his snub nose up against the other boy’s. 

“Ya’re welcome,” Berwald responses gruffly.

Tino glances up at his friend, realizing he would be content with being here for the rest of his life.


	20. School Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A much shorter chapter today, sorry guys. I've been working crazy hours! Question: do you guys prefer more frequent updates like every one or two days that are shorter, or maybe a once a week update that is longer?

Tino throws on some clothes, twisting his body in the mirror to make sure that he looks somewhat decent. Today, he had to go back to school. Since the Oxenstierna family actually cared about his education, he was going to have to go no matter what. 

Or else there would be consequences. 

“Ya look good,” Berwald remarks, stepping out of the bathroom in a closed robe with soaking wet hair and a freshly shaved face. He finds himself touching the laces on Tino’s black sweatshirt mindlessly, smiling slightly. The taller boy lowers himself downwards to press his lips up against his friend’s quickly before his step-brother emerges from his own room.

The wayward teenager catches the last millisecond of the brief moment of affection, and his lips curl upwards obnoxiously. He swears he can hear a groan from his sibling.

“Oh, Tino, I think Berwald was dreaming about you last night,” Mathias slings his arm around his two friends and grins in his smaller friend’s ear devilishly. “There was a lot of inappropriate things that you guys don’t have a clue about, yea?” 

Berwald finds himself grateful that his foot can smash into his step-brother’s. Mathias makes a small yelp and leaps off of the two. Tino’s eyes widen, secretly wondering whether or not Mathias was just pulling his leg. 

“That’s digustin’ and naught even true, Mathias!” Berwald huffs, crossing his arms. 

“Mhm, we both knew what happened there,” Mathias grins, ready to defend himself from one of Berwald’s famous attack moves. “Poor baby Tino, the second you mate him, you become a sick pervert.”

The pair of friends become strangely quiet and red in the face the second someone mentions mating. 

“I mean, really, Berwald. Everyone thought I was the pervert of the family. Just because I didn’t listen to the ol’ rulebook about not mating more than one omega doesn’t mean anything about my character.”

“Ya’re right; it does naught. Ya’re annoyin’ either way,” Berwald replies, not in the mood to discuss his brother’s sex life. Not that there was ever a time he wanted to do that. 

“Come on, guys, we can talk about this stuff. I think it helps when we’re open about it!” Mathias pesters, grinning widely. “We’ve all done it now.”

Silence immediately follows the last sentence. Tino glances at Berwald, panicked. Berwald gives him a similar startled expression, which makes Tino realize that he has to take a stance now. He gulps.

“Heh, yeah, you’re right, Mathias...” Tino trails off, finding himself touching where that bite mark’s bruise is left. “We’ve only done it once, and it was kind of awkward, so... I don’t know. It’s still weird to us.”

“Well, I’ve never had a weird moment! Maybe you two should strive to be a little more like me!” Mathias proclaims loudly, returning to his spot wedged between the boys.

“I think the world only can handle one of you. And Lukas, too,” Tino says the last part under his breath so softly that only Berwald can pick up on it. 

“Just you wait. When you have a baby, I’m going to teach it to act just like me!” Mathias promises, making the small omega giggle uncomfortably. Berwald grimaces, but because of his unfortunate perma-scowl, Mathias cannot tell. 

Still, Tino cannot stop himself from lightly pressing his hands up against his stomach at just the mere thought of children. 

“Berwald! Come walk your dog, she’s pawing at the door,” Mrs. Oxenstierna calls up the steps. Berwald nods, even though the woman is not standing there to see it. He bounces down the steps, silently praying that he can (for once) get there before the puppy pees on the floor.

Mathias’s obnoxious smile fades into a much more serious and controlled one. “You guys didn’t actually have sex, did you?” His tone is not accusatory or reeking of using this as potential gossip material. 

Still, Tino can’t stop himself from tilting his head downwards and sighing.

“I figured.”


	21. Boundaries

Tino swears he sees a tiny twinkle in his teacher’s eyes when he makes it through her doorway. That twinkle disappears as soon as Mathias nearly topples over Tino, plopping himself down on one of the tables. “I got something new to tell ya, Teach!”

  
Tino finds himself smiling, his mind turning to melancholy thoughts. He missed so much these past few weeks when he was banned from school, didn’t he?

  
“So Lukas told me the other day that...” Mathias goes inaudible, and Tino finds himself lost in a daydream pretty quickly. He can hear Mathias talk about Lukas for some reason, but never absorbs any of the words going through his ears.   

  
“Tino?” Berwald pulls out the chair next to him and places his binder on the desk.

  
Tino snaps out of the trance and snaps his neck around. “Yeah?”

  
“Was just wondering...”

  
“Yeah?”

  
Berwald doesn’t continue on with the thought, and instead licks his lips and sighs. He rests his head on the desk, not noticing the pair of eyes fixated on him.

  
“Berwald! Wake up before you have another wet dream about Timo!” Mathias practically barks at the top of his lungs. Tino nearly breaks his neck to glare at the obnoxious boy, but there’s a small amount of confusion showing on his face as well. If he were being honest, he didn’t know the meaning of the term. He just knew that Mathias was being obnoxious, and that was enough to earn him a glare.

  
Berwald’s jaw slightly drops when he sits up, and he has the sudden (but not uncommon) urge to punch Mathias in the stomach.

  
“Hey, Berwald, it’s a totally normal thing!” Mrs. Héderváry reassures, placing a hand on his back, rubbing him softly with a comfortable smile.

  
“I’ve never had one of those things, ma brother’s just bein’ an ass,” Berwald moves away from the touch by turning his chair quickly, which means he is directly next to Tino.

  
Tino finds himself placing a tender hand on his friend’s shoulder. His face is slightly red.

  
“Bull! Even you were talking about it one day!” Mathias calls out his step-brother, a terribly obnoxious grin resting on his face now. “Just admit it!”

  
Berwald’s eyes start to burn with tears from the embarrassment his brother was dragging him through. Other students start to pour in to the classroom, eyeing the situation. Berwald silently wishes he could reach across his friend and strangle his brother right now.

  
“Let’s relax, boys!” Mrs. Héderváry exclaims, trying to cut the tension before hands were thrown. “Berwald, I’ll talk to you later. Mathias, you should know better. Stop torturing your brother or else I’ll tell Mr. You-Know-Who what you’ve been telling me about him.” Mrs. Héderváry warns, wagging her finger back and forth with a devilish grin on her face.

  
Tino never felt more lost in his life.

  
“Alright, class!” Mrs. Héderváry claps her hands, smiling with her head turned to the side. “Today, we are going to talk about boundaries.”

  
Tino finds himself relaxing in his chair, sighing softly. Berwald places his folded hands on the desk and raises his shoulders.

  
“So, everyone practices boundaries each and every day. We don’t step too close to strangers, or do anything ridiculous. Unless you’re Mathias, of course,” Mrs. Héderváry calls out her student, without even acknowledging him with a glance. “Well, when we get into relationships, it’s like we don’t respect boundaries anymore. So in my course, I want you to learn that boundaries need to be set up in relationships.”

Mrs. Héderváry moves her hair away from her face, puffing the loose strands away unsuccessfully. “It’s a common rule in our society that an alpha and an omega do not mate until marriage. And as a teacher, I am required to encourage you to do the same. But I’m going to tell you another thing.”  
Tino tilts his head sideways.

“It’s fine if you don’t wait. I didn’t. I knew that I wanted to be with my husband, and I trusted him enough not to run away afterwards. Mostly because he doesn’t run.”  
A few snorts can be heard, but Tino is not among them.

“To be honest,” She starts again, twirling a pen between her fingers, “I don’t know what to tell you guys. They require us to tell you that you must wait until marriage, but I know for a fact some of you haven’t. And that’s fine, too. As long as the other alpha or omega or beta respected your boundaries, I don’t give a shit.”

Tino raises his hand.

“Yes, Tino?”  
“But, that’s not what everyone else says…”

Mrs. Héderváry nods, “I know, Tino. But I don’t want to lie to you. Sex before marriage is not that big of a deal anymore. Not following the other person’s boundaries is. So if you want to wait until marriage, good for you. Just find someone that respects that, and wait until marriage to get naked.”

Tino’s mind can’t compute this information.

“But what happens if an omega gets pregnant, and the alpha leaves them?” Tino asks so quietly, Mrs. Héderváry almost asks for him to repeat it. A few people snort in the back, but the teacher shoots them a dirty glance.

“Hey, we do not laugh at others in this class! Anyways, Tino, to answer your question, that is just fear-mongering. Yes, it does happen. But if you look at the statistics, it becomes a lot more likely that an alpha will marry an omega once they find out that the omega became pregnant. In reality, such an announcement may make people look at a relationship more seriously,” Mrs. Héderváry explains, sighing. “But even if they don’t marry, it’s fine. Marriage is a very serious thing. Sometimes, you don’t need to get married. Everyone is different.”  
Tino becomes quiet.

“If you have any more questions, Tino, just talk to me,” Mrs. Héderváry urges.

*

Tino couldn’t stop thinking about what his teacher says, frowning. He takes an apple from the kitchen counter that Mrs. Oxenstierna bought the other day. Other than Berwald upstairs, the house is empty. Mathias needed the Oxenstierna parents to support him at a hockey game, and Hanatamago is having a spa day at the dog groomer’s.

Tino eats his apple quickly, then bounds up the stairs. He turns to go into his room, but remembers that they have math homework to do. Maybe, he hopes, Berwald is working on it.

Tino stands outside the door, trying to decide how he wants to enter. He ponders it for a second, then just decides to enter normally.

The main light is off, but the nightlight that Berwald insisted on having is on. It gave off a pretty liberal amount of light for such a small thing that Tino was contemplating getting one of his own.

He sees Berwald relaxing on his bed, naked from the waist down. His hand is moving up and down slowly, his stomach rising up and down rapidly. His eyes are closed shut, and he has a small smile on his face.

“Berwald?”

Tino freezes, his mind going back to what was discussed in class today. It was okay, wasn’t it? The curiosity felt okay, right now.    
Berwald sits up quickly, wrapping a blanket around his naked waist to hide what is going on. “Tino, don’t ya know how ta knock?” Berwald places his head into his hands, his face a bright red. Tino shuts the door behind him, sitting down on his friend’s bed.

“Sorry,” Tino apologizes. “What were you doing?”

“Touchin’ myself,” Berwald admits, not strong enough to look up at Tino.

“Hm,” Tino finds himself taking away the security blanket. “Can you... continue?”

“Why?”

“I, uh, want to watch.”

There’s a million reasons why Berwald didn’t want an audience, but Tino was probably just curious.

“Sure,” Berwald agrees, deciding that, as long as Tino didn’t touch anything, he was being respectful of boundaries. Besides, it’s not like he had time to waste. Hockey games don’t last forever, after all.

Berwald lays on his back again slowly, taking a deep breath before moving his hand downwards to return it back to its place. He places his hand on the shaft of his penis, wrapping his fingers around it again. He takes a deep breath before moving his hand upwards again.

It is not easy to return to it after being interrupted, but eventually, Berwald got back into motion. He just had a few more nerves this time around.

Tino watches it intensely, making sure every few seconds to watch Berwald’s expression.

The process repeats a couple of more times before Berwald starts to hold his breath, speeding up his strokes. He moans out softly after one particularly quick stroke, opening up his eyes. He ejaculates onto his hand, and he sits up quickly.

“Do you… have to… clean that?” Tino asks innocently.

“Mhm,” Berwald replies, standing up.

“I can clean it.”

“No, that’s disgustin’, Tino,” Berwald goes to his dresser and pulls out a couple of tissues. His face is still a deep red shade, and he’s not sure if it’s from the embarrassment of Tino watching his performance closely, or the orgasm he had. “I make the mess, I…”

“Clean it up?”

“Ya.”

Tino watches Berwald clean up, placing the dirty tissue paper in the wastebasket.

“Why’d you do that?” Tino asks, blushing.

“I’m alone, and I felt… horny,” Berwald explains, wishing he didn’t have to play sex ed teacher with his friend.

“Oh,” Tino replies softly. “Would you watch me do that?”

Berwald can’t even look at the boy at this point. Instead, he rubs his temples. He didn’t want to snap at his friend, but these were supposed to be his moments of peace. He lifts up his discarded boxers and places them on himself again.

“I don’t know,” He admits, slipping one of his legs into his jeans.

“Oh.”


	22. After the Game

“That game was awesome!” Mathias exclaims, bouncing up the steps loudly with a freshly groomed Hanatamago. Berwald nearly has a heart attack at the sound. Tino is still in his room, staring at that wastebasket, remembering was he just watched diligently. 

Berwald chucks his geometry book onto his bed, pouncing back onto the mattress and opening the object up to a random page. 

“Grab my book,” Berwald commands, pointing to the small wooden table to the right of them. Tino nods, reaching his arm over to pick it up. He flips open to a random chapter and pretends to be surprised when Mathias bursts open the bedroom door. 

“Hey, Mathias,” Tino greets his friend with a genuine smile.

“Hey!” Mathias greets back, but lowers his voice to say the next part, “Did you guys mate yet?”

Berwald shoots his brother a disgusted glance, but Tino simply responds with a shake of his head. 

“And you were home alone!” Mathias scolds, jumping on his bed. 

“I know, but you’re the rule breaker of the family. Your brother just isn’t. And that’s what I like,” Tino pecks at Berwald’s cheek, leaving the older boy with a bright red face. 

“It’s time to take after me a bit more, Berwald! I impress everyone!”

“Naught what Lukas said about ya,” Berwald snickers underneath his breath. Tino’s eyes widen.

“Huh?” Both Mathias and Tino say in unison. 

“Said ya were boring. All brag, no substance,” Berwald’s snickering continues. “Said watchin’ paint dry would have been a better use of his time.” 

“Wait,” Tino interrupts, scratching his head, “So you two mated? When are you getting married, then?” 

“He didn’t say that!” Mathias exclaims, his ego and pride a bit broken now. 

“What are you going to do, Mathias?! You took my friend’s innocence away!” Tino cries as he sits up on his knees, and suddenly all of them became aware of the elder Oxenstierna pair at the door. 

“ _ Mathias! _ ” Mrs. Oxenstierna interrupts, tapping her feet. “How are you going to take a poor omega’s innocence away and not tell your mother who they are!” 

“His name’s Lukas, Mom,” Mathias confesses, a bit mortified that they were listening in. 

“Are you going to marry him or not, Mathias?” Tino begs for an answer, starting to materialize an image in his head of their future wedding. 

“No!” Mathias responds. 

“Tino, not everyone who mates has to get married,” Mrs. Oxenstierna explains, a gentle smile on her face, “If they did, you and Berwald would be married.”

Both Berwald and Tino fall silent. Mathias smirks slightly at them, but decides not to use the precious information he has learned against them. It would not be worth Tino getting kicked out of the Oxenstierna house just to get back at his brother.

“Tino, by the way, when is your heat supposed to start?” Mrs. Oxenstierna asks, leaning up against the doorframe. 

“In a week, on Tuesday,” Berwald replies, without glancing up. Tino’s jaw drops, nodding.    
“How do you know that?” Tino questions quietly. 

“Keep track,” Berwald replies gruffly, his face turning a bright red. 

“Mathias, look! If you got your shit together, you could have that kind of relationship!” Mrs. Oxenstierna points out. 

Tino decides, as he is watching Berwald’s small details on his face, that he is ready to do whatever it takes to take their relationship to the next level. 


	23. What's that for?

The next Tuesday, Tino woke up to find himself in a fetal position on his bed. He grasps onto his blanket, sighing deeply. Light peeks in from the blinds of his window, annoying him to the point where he has to sit up. 

The whole world around him felt teeth-chatteringly cold and light. And it wasn’t going to get better anytime soon, because nobody would relieve him of his pain. 

“Ugh,” Tino slips on his slippers and strolls across the floor, clutching his stomach. 

He opens up the door, seeing both Berwald and Mathias getting ready in front of the mirror. Both pairs of eyes turn their attention from the mirror to stare at him. 

“Tino, ya’re naught supposed ta—“ Berwald starts, only to be interrupted. 

“I’m not getting ready for school, Berwald,” Tino interjects with gritted teeth. God damn it! Why did Berwald have to look so good today? Why was he wearing a cute striped v-neck that traced lightly across his muscles? Why did he have obligations to be at school and at his apprenticeship? Why did this have to be one of his long days?

Tino hated to admit it, but he would love if the boy would stay here and press him down against the bed, taking his sweet...

God damn it.

Tino pushes past the two alphas, wondering why he had to have a crush on the sweet one. Mathias would have gotten so much farther than Berwald had by now. 

Tino rinses his face, then dabs away water droplets with a small rag. He wonders if there’s any pain medication in the cabinets above him.

A quick inspection reveals that there isn’t anything of the sort. Of course there wouldn’t be. He is the only omega here. Mrs. Oxenstierna would be the type not affected by her minuscule beta heats. She probably gets through them without even minding what is going on. 

Tino takes a deep breath. This was going to suck.

*

After a day of tossing and turning and crying in his bed, Tino is ready for any sort of human contact. Not necessarily sexual, but he wouldn’t complain if Berwald suddenly decides this slow courting needed to speed up. 

So when Tino could hear a turn on the doorknob, he immediately sits up with a smile on his face. 

“Oh, Tino,” Mrs. Oxenstierna sees the cheerful boy on his bed from just a tiny crack in the door. She watches that smile deflate when he realizes that she’s not the one he has been waiting for. 

“I got you some food, sweetie,” Mrs. Oxenstierna takes the plate of pasta to him and hands it over. 

Tino wants to ask when Berwald is coming home, but he knows that it would be out of line. 

Instead, he settles for a simple, “Thank you,” and just a few seconds later, he is alone in this big, cold room again. 

He digs into the pasta, not realizing how much he’s been starving until the spaghetti is in front of his plate, being twirled around his fork. 

He can hear some familiar footsteps that were certainly not Mathias’s coming up the steps. These steps were taken by someone who had a heavy bag on them and had a bit more thought going on his head. Tino could hear a heavy coat required for the October air hitting the floor. 

Tino couldn’t stop himself from flinging open his bedroom door and greeting his friend with an exhausted smile and a smothering hug. 

Berwald toys with Tino’s hair, grinning at him slightly. He didn’t want to admit it, but these long days were unbearable. He had to be near Tino, all the time. Or else he felt... incomplete.

“I missed you,” Tino admits in a low voice, pressing into him. 

“Missed ya, ta,” Berwald lifts up his head to avoid the awful expression he wanted to make because of Tino’s small thrust. 

“I waited for you all day,” Tino breathes out, which makes Berwald’s heart melt. 

“Tino, I’ll talk ta ya later. I have ta do homework, and eat dinner,” Berwald pulls away, which leaves Tino with tears in his eyes. 

“Can’t you eat with me?” Tino asks quietly. 

Berwald wants to say yes, but he has the strange inkling of a feeling that Tino would tackle him and undress them right on that wooden floor. Not exactly what he wants his first time to be like, really. So he shakes his head sadly. 

“Later,” Berwald promises, and Tino regains a twinkle in his eyes. 

*

Tino wakes up to a phone light being pointed in his direction and Berwald emerging into his room. He sits up, nearly hissing at the boy, “What time is it?!”

“Ta o’ clock,” Berwald states, flicking on the light switch. 

Tino rubs his eyes, sighing. He presses on his stomach lightly, and frowns. “Do you know how I felt today, Berwald?” 

Berwald shrugs, sitting down beside Tino. 

“I felt so horny, Berwald,” Tino confesses, blushing. “I wanted for you to come home, drop all your stuff, and take me then and there.”

Berwald absorbs this information, nodding. He watches Tino grasp onto his Moomin pajama bottoms tensely. 

“If ya’re quiet, we can da it now,” Berwald offers, his face as red as a tomato now. 

Tino’s eyes triple in size at that offer. He turns to Berwald, nodding eagerly. 

Berwald stands up, which makes Tino tilt his head to the side. 

“Getting protection so ya don’t get pregnant,” Berwald explains. Tino purses his lips. 

“What?”

“Why?”

“Protects us.”

“From what? Each other?” 

“Tino.”

“Fine. Go get whatever those things are called.” 

Berwald sighs, heading into the bathroom. Underneath the sink, his step-mother provided a seemingly endless supply of condoms. That, or Mathias was just making shit up. Also plausible. 

Tino slips out of his pajama bottoms, leaving just his tight boxers and his shirt on. He curls underneath his comforter and waits patiently for his friend to come back. 

Berwald opens up the door again. He rejoins Tino on the bed, crawling upwards to tower over a blushing Tino on his back. 

“So I should have just asked Mathias. He was home earlier,” Tino teases, a devilish smile on his face. 

“What happened ta ya? Ya were so innocent just the other day,” Berwald remarks, unwrapping the boy from the cocoon he had himself in. 

“I’m in heat,” Tino reminds him, feeling Berwald’s fingers curl underneath his shirt’s fabric. 

“Mhm.” 

Berwald tugs the other boy’s shirt upwards, obliging his arms to move up. His eyes mentally trace the curves on Tino’s plump body that is waiting eagerly for his touch. 

“So when does the, thingie go on?” Tino questions innocently. Berwald nearly bursts into laughter. 

“The condom?”

“Yeah, that.”

“That goes on later,” Berwald explains with a straight face. 

“Oh.”

Berwald grabs at his shirt, but Tino presses one of his small, chubby hands against his own. “Can I do that?”

Berwald nods, sitting on his knees. 

Tino grasps at the ends of Berwald’s shirt, grinning widely as he tugs it upwards to reveal the bare chest underneath. His fingers slowly trace the lines of muscles on the other boy’s chest absentmindedly. 

“You’re so pretty, Berwald,” Tino remarks in a pure haze. Berwald places his hand under Tino’s chin and uses it to raise it upwards so he can place his lips on the other boy’s. Tino’s hands fly up to cup Berwald’s strong face; the younger boy’s thumbs gripping underneath his jaw. 

Tino’s head tilts over to the side, feeling Berwald’s nose drag up against his cheek. 

“That tickles,” Tino pulls his lips away an inch, giggling. 

“That’s mah nose.”

“Still tickles.”

Tino raises his hand to touch Berwald’s small, chapped lips. He presses his index finger up against the boy’s closed mouth, giggling once again.

“You’re so beautiful,” Tino says as his eyes crinkle up. 

“Mhm, so are ya,” Berwald remarks, parroting Tino’s actions by tracing over Tino’s plump, soft lips before pressing his lips up against the other boy’s once more. He takes a short, sharp breath and places his hands on his friend’s soft chest. His tongue peeks into Tino’s mouth, before stumbling out.

“Ew!” 

Berwald raises an eyebrow at his friend, wiping the saliva off his lips. “Huh?”

“Your tongue felt weird and… gross.”

“Ya’re okay with havin’ my babies, but naught with my tongue?”

“Hmpf.”   
“Ya ready?”

Tino’s cheeks turn pink at the question. He nods, getting onto his knees and turning around. Berwald peels the fabric off of Tino’s bottom, then lifts his friend’s legs up to pull the boxers off. He runs his hand down Tino’s spine, tracing circles on the other boy’s buttocks.

“Berwald?”   
“Yea?”

The room falls silent.

“Yea?” Berwald repeats, once more, hoping to get an answer. Tino sits down, twisting his body so he could face his friend.

“Why aren’t you naked?”

Berwald glances downwards. Right. He places his fingers underneath the pajama bottoms, but Tino interrupts.

“No, no! Wait, I have an idea!” 

Tino digs his mouth underneath the waistband. He drags the band downwards, causing Berwald to moan out as he drags his mouth absentmindedly across his covered genitalia. After his bottoms are bunched up around his legs, Tino goes back up to Berwald’s waist and removes the boxers quickly.

Tino lowers himself back down onto his back once again. “Come on, you know more than me about this. You do the work.”

Berwald nods, sitting up again. He lifts up Tino’s legs to press soft kisses on his kneecaps. 

Berwald pecks gently back and forth between Tino’s thighs before ending up at Tino’s waist. 

“Is it time for the condom?” Tino asks quietly, squirming upwards.

Berwald nods, leaning off the bed to pick up the wrapper. He tears open the packaging and picks out the condom. He unravels it carefully over his own penis.

“So, that’s what a condom is?” Tino asks, placing a hand over his mouth to stop himself from the loud giggles.

“Yea.”

“Oh.”

They sit there in silence for a moment, giggling together. 

Berwald crawls back on top of Tino, waiting for the other to stop with the giggling. 

“I’m ready, I think,” Tino says.

“Okay.”

“Are you?”

“Berwald.”

“Tino.”

“Yes, I am. Are you?”   
Berwald nods, finding himself placing his index finger around Tino’s anus. The lubrication drips onto his finger, making him cringe a bit. His heart races as he places the finger inside of Tino.

“Ew,” Tino cringes. 

“Gotta do it,” Berwald places another finger inside. “That’s what the Internet said.”   
“The  _ Internet _ ?”

“Ya didn’t know what a condom was, Tino,” Berwald reminds, moving the fingers around. Tino shudders.

“Okay, okay! Is this all there is to it?” Tino says in a huff. 

“Tino, what would the condom be for?” Berwald asks, taking his fingers out. He flips over Tino’s body, lifting him up by wrapping his own arms underneath his friend’s body. Tino doesn’t have an answer as he finds himself on his knees again. 

“Ya ready?”

“Yeah.”   
Berwald positions himself before thrusting in slowly. He hears a low cry and then a gasp from Tino, which makes him stop immediately halfway in. 

“It feels weird,” Tino explains, sighing. “Keep going,” He commands with newfound confidence. 

Berwald nods, pressing in more. He figures with the low moan he just heard that he is pressing up against the prostate. Not that Tino would know about that. When he reaches the farthest he can go, he quickly pulls himself out. 

He begins to repeat the process again, a bit quicker this time. 

“Did that feel better?”   
“Yeah, keep going.”

Berwald nods, releasing himself before pressing in again a few seconds later. “Ugh..” He feels Tino’s muscles tighten up before Tino lets out a sharp gasp. 

“What happened?” Berwald quickly pulls out, releasing his grip underneath Tino. 

“Uh, I just felt like there was an explosion in my body,” Tino replies lamely, clutching his chest. 

Berwald could not stop the stupid grin on his face. “Ya had an  _ orgasm?” _ _   
_ “Is that bad?” Tino asks, pulling the Moomin blanket over his naked body. 

“Na, was supposed to have it ta, but I guess that’s fine, ta,” Berwald places his hand underneath Tino’s bangs, brushing them back to reveal the boy’s forehead. 

“Oh.”

“Next time.”   
Tino’s heart flutters. So Berwald wanted there to be a next time? 

“Ya’re gonna be tired, Tino,” Berwald picks up his discarded clothes and lifts himself off of the bed. Tino wishes he could ask for Berwald to stay in the bed and share the big Moomin comforter with him, but he knew that he had to follow the Oxenstierna family’s rules. No Berwald in his bed. 

Berwald watches Tino roll into a cocoon as he gets dressed up for bed. 

“Night, Berwald,” Tino replies, his eyes shutting. 

“Night, Tino,” Berwald replies, turning the light off. He watches Tino until he shuts the bedroom door behind him to return back to his own. 

He could swear he could see Mathias staring at him when he got back. 


End file.
